Lack of Trust
by FluffyLicorne
Summary: Sinbad's and Bryn's fates were strongly tied together before time. However, the dark power always aimed at them with the purpose of destroying them both. What would happen if Bryn turned evil? Would Sinbad ever trust her again? Read to find out. [Sinbad/Bryn]. OOC.
1. The Last Moment or Just the Beginning

**Author's Note: This is my very first story and I do appreciate your reviews. Enjoy reading!**

******DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Adventures of Sinbad. The story I write here comes from my own imagination.**

It's been a while since the Nomad crew last encountered an adventurous journey. Sinbad, also known as the master of seven seas, has successfully established a trust-worthy reputation for himself as well as for the crew. Eventually, any businessmen would wish to conduct business with Sinbad, mostly about delivering cargoes. Their business actually went quite well these recent months. Thank goodness, Sinbad was able to keep up with his cargo deliveries without falling into any sort of adventures. Sailing continuously from ports to ports, the crew has been able to make good money. Everyone seemed to be in their great mood and could take some time off between voyages. Today wasn't exceptional. After delivering wine to the city's caliph of Baraz, Sinbad decided to spend a night here before returning to Baghdad the next day. Obviously, Doubar was the one to be excited the most. He couldn't wait to take some relaxing time at a local tavern. Fine ale, pretty barmaids, and delicious food have been calling him since the moment he stepped foot on port. Without telling his brother, Doubar dragged Rongar and Firouz to the tavern and started to enjoy themselves. Why on earth would the Moor and the inventor protest? So, that left Sinbad alone with Dermott and Bryn who wished nothing else than checking out the market.

"Go ahead and join the guys," happily said Bryn. "I'll be fine going with Dermott. You deserve some rest, captain."

"It's quite noisy there. I'd rather take a walk around after a while being at sea," was the captain's simple reply.

With that being said, they headed together towards the market. If Sinbad was to be honest with himself, he'd like to spend some time alone with Bryn, a lovely brunette young woman whom he cared a great deal about. It's been almost five years since their first encounter on the Cayman's island. Over time and the adventures they have been through, Sinbad and Bryn found themselves growing closer to one another, both physically and mentally. They both grew the habits of watching each other's back during the battles. With the bond they share through the rainbow bracelets, they most likely could sense the other person's feeling and thoughts. It made them feel more relaxed and comfortable in each other's presence. The longer time they had together, the more each of them realized they have fallen in love with the other person. At first, they were both afraid to admit their true feelings because of the fear that the other person wouldn't feel the same way. However, Sinbad was brave enough to finally decide one day that he would be completely open to Bryn about his heart. The entire crew, especially their young witch, was overjoyed to see their captain allowing love to lead his way. Sinbad could never forget the moment Bryn replied that she had her heart, her mind, and her soul only for the sea-blue-eyed captain. From that moment, they were more attached to each other and more frequently seen to be together. However, they didn't always get to be in their private little world. On busy days at sea, he'd be too occupied by his captain duties, while Bryn was to help other crew members with their jobs. At night, Sinbad attempted to seek Bryn to make up their lost time. Sometimes he succeeded, sometimes he didn't, for Bryn might have felt exhausted after a long day and Sinbad didn't want to disturb her from getting a well-deserved sleep. That's why taking every precious moment to be alone with Bryn was all what Sinbad wanted to. Browsing the market might not seem to interest him that much, but who cared? The most important thing was to have Bryn by his side at this very moment and he wouldn't ask for anything else.

"So, what are you planning to buy?" Sinbad asked.

"Oh no, not at all," replied Bryn. "I was just thinking of what to get for you guys this Yuletide. It's coming very soon. I'm afraid I might not have a chance to buy anything nice, so I'd like to scheme around and get some ideas."

Not so surprised at her words, Sinbad always knew how caring Bryn was for others. From the first time they met until now, Bryn occasionally proved herself to be living for her people's good. Even just a little detail would not pass her attention. She had the ability to see what was on somebody's mind and how to help them get their wishes granted. It always amazed Sinbad how she could do it. So when she said she'd start shopping for gifts, he started picturing how great this Yuletide would be and totally looked forward to it.

"Well, if you say so my lady," he bowed at her and offered his hand. "May I have the honor to accompany you? Perhaps, it could get me some prizes from you in the end."

Bryn could not hold back from his funny expression. She let out a loud laughter as if she had never freely laughed before. His voice was so warm which lifted up her spirit. And he was willing to go through any difficulties just to win her happiness. Taking his hand in hers, they walked around the market and examined numerous items that the town people had to offer. From the finest fabric to the simplest tools, they did not pass any small thing. However, they did not attempt to make any purchases. This tour was just to give Bryn an idea of what she should buy and if she could afford to. Once they reached Baghdad, Bryn would probably take another browse to make up her mind.

So the entire time Sinbad and Bryn just walked together. Along the way, they talked about their time at sea, how great it was to get rest frequently, and especially about how they would like to spend their Yuletide together. It excited them both as the season was approaching. There were many things to get ready for such as gifts, decorations, and most likely one place to settle down and to enjoy the seasoning. Probably none of their crew members wanted to spend the holiday at sea, so they had to come up with a specific port where everyone would be satisfied. Getting so involved in into the topic, neither of them noticed those two eyes that have been watching them since the beginning. The eyes of hopes, containing sense of trust and yearning, have been on both sailors. *_Not so long till you can no longer smile sailors_.* They seemed oblivious of their watcher and had no idea of what was to happen soon. But one thing was for sure: this peaceful moment of Sinbad and Bryn was going to be their last beautiful piece of memory. This moment was just the beginning of a long journey ahead which no one could imagine to encounter. Their future held both the up's and down's which tied closely to their fates.


	2. The Unexpected Reunion

******Author's Note: Hi all! I decided to update more chapters soon. Well, I have most of this story done, just to make some small changes here and there. But I promise more will be up. My special thanks to those who spend time reading and leaving reviews. So here is chapter 2. Enjoy reading!**

******DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Adventures of Sinbad. The story I write here comes from my own imagination.**

"Off to Baghdad everyone. Ready to set sail?" asked the handsome captain as he stepped back on his beloved Nomad.

"As ready as we can be little brother. A good night rest is always great before another trip," said Doubar as he was untying some knots.

"I'm glad you guys had a good time. That's a good sign for a new journey."

"Indeed."

So the Nomad crew left Baraz. Rongar was at the tiller guiding the ship towards its upcoming destination. Sinbad and Doubar were rearranging some crates aboard. At the bow of the ship, Bryn was reading one of Firouz's books. It was a normal scene of the Nomad's adventurers. Below deck, Firouz was working on a little gift, a music box to be exact, for Bryn. He decided to keep it a secret between him and Rongar. Both of the guys were always grateful to have Bryn on their voyages. She was a valuable member to everyone. So Firouz and Rongar wanted to surprise her on this Yuletide. It was the prince's idea to make Bryn a musical item, for he knew she loved music as much as Sinbad loved the sea. Every time the crew was invited to parties, Rongar never failed asking Bryn to dance with him. To her, dancing was like a type of art where she got to be its central character. She put her soul into it and did her best not to miss any notes of the songs. When she danced, regardless with whom, the world around her disappeared, leaving her alone with the partner to make their best out of every beat of the song. Bryn could bring out the best movements in every dance she made. Seeing Bryn dance reminded Rongar of his royal life, the one that was filled with happiness and prosperity. She represented the most meaningful memory of his beloved country. That was why he wanted to get her something she'd totally love. And he found Firouz's agreement to invent a musical box. The scientist was always eager to make new things. Especially when it came to making something nice for a close shipmate of his, the motivation kicked in even better. He's been diligently working on making the best musical box ever. No one found out about this little secret so far, and he felt great this way. It kept his mind focus on getting this invention to its bottom.

Everything combined to make a perfect picture, or almost perfect. Everyone was so content doing their regular tasks. It was until the ship got to the middle of the sea where Dermott got anxious all of a sudden. He chirped constantly and refused to perch on the railing. He jumped here and there, calling for his mistress's attention. It was too obvious for everyone to ignore that the hawk was up to something. Trying to calm him down, Bryn caressed his feathers and attempted to keep him still. But he could realize that she didn't have full understanding of his intention, so he flew off into the sky. Around and around, Dermott flew atop of the Nomad as if he was ringing an alert bell without stopping his chirps.

"What's with him?" Doubar asked.

"I'm not sure. He's not being himself as usual," said Bryn. "I tried to talk it out to him but it didn't work".

"Something's on his mind?" Sinbad voiced it.

It was then when Bryn saw a small island to the left of the Nomad. Dermott caught her view by flying to that direction. Bryn pointed it to the brothers, "That Island could be the reason, I supposed."

"An island right in the middle of the ocean? How could it be?" was Doubar's surprising expression.

Everyone else seemed to agree with the first mate, since the course from Baraz to Baghdad showed no sign of whatsoever islands. Examining the scene, the captain's glance stopped on Bryn to ask for the opinions. Her eyes were filled with confusion which he totally understood. It wasn't the first time he could read what her mind was thinking about. He knew she was debating whether or not to step onto a strange place. A part of her told him she wanted to go after Dermott; the other half revealed her hesitation, for she didn't know if there was anything at that place which could possibly put the crew in danger. But the first reason finally won over. No one on this ship, as Sinbad believed, would ever give up on Dermott. He has seen their eyes to spy any distant view for long enough to become a priceless member of the Nomad family. Without getting Bryn's final answer, Sinbad ordered to sail towards the mysterious island. He turned his back on Bryn and walked towards Rongar. He could feel that Bryn was relieved for his decision. Just like him, Bryn cared a great deal for Dermott which made her feel terrible not to follow him. *_He could be telling me something that I haven't quite got yet. I need to get him back on the Nomad_* Bryn thought for herself. So she stayed calm as the island slowly showed up in her sight.

With the captain's order, Rongar sailed the ship to head to the island. The crew had to use the longboat to get ashore. As the guys secured the boat, Bryn took a quick glance around the island, hoping to detect any possible sign of Dermott. *_I can sense that he's not too far away._* Bryn thought. So after the longboat was fully secured, they started walking around and looked for the hawk. As everybody was walking, they could see that this island seemed like a deserted place. No sign of living residents was to be found. If anyone ever made it here, they wouldn't be able to settle for long. Nothing on this island could be found for any living to be blossomed here.

"What a strange place! How can someone survive here?" was the very first statement made by Firouz.

Looking carefully around, Rongar made his points.

"I agree with you my friend," said Doubar to the Moor. "This place got my nerves. Everyone needs to be careful."

"We'll just need to find Dermott and leave. I don't like this place either," was the captain's reply.

Staying quiet the whole time, Bryn could still notice the crew's talk. Ever since she got onto the island, her instinct told her coming here wasn't such a good thing to do. An uneasy feeling crept the back of her neck as she followed Sinbad's footprints. Deep down inside her heart, a small voice was calling her to turn back and leave. But still, she couldn't leave without Dermott. So, she was trying to connect her thoughts and feelings together in attempting to find out what this unease was about. Being such deep thought, she didn't notice Sinbad's touch on her left wrist, where her rainbow bracelet was, until he said her name. His eyes sought her attention with the kind of are-you-ok look. She returned him with an assuring smile indicating that she was fine. He didn't believe her though, but still let it slide. Right now they were both up to finding Dermott. He'd surely seek her later to talk about this incident. Never would he want to leave the woman he cared most about to be worried. So they all continued walking further into the land, all were cautious and ready to fight any possible danger ahead.

Finally, the crew saw Dermott perched on the roof of a house. Rongar was first to notice the sight of the hawk. He looked happy than ever, as if he just won the best prize on locating the most important target for the crew. Still chirping when he saw his people, his voice sounded more delightful and satisfying.

Firouz turned to Rongar and ask, "Do you think he led us to his house?" Rongar then nodded his head for agreement. So everyone started looking inside and outside the house.

"Somebody must be living here," exclaimed Firouz. "How incredible it is to survive on such an isolated island."

"Mysterious you mean?" said Doubar. "It doesn't look right to me."

His brother agreed on the same matter. It was true to settle here for a while. It looked like someone's been here long enough to build a stable house and make all the needed things. The crew was busy looking until a familiar voice got their attention.

"Dermott! Is that really you?" cried a woman. "I can't believe I finally can see you again."

Exchanging looks, the guys immediately walked outside for the scene they've been looking forward to. *_Could it be?_* was the one question that cross their minds at once.

Dermott rang a loud and happy chirp after landing on the woman's hand. His body language portrayed the happiest living thing on earth. Appearing in front of the crew's stunning look was Maeve, their long lost member who was washed overboard years ago. It had been revealed to them that the storm was simply a game of Rumia who intended to get rid of Maeve before Maeve could reach her for revenge. So Rumina had kept Maeve at a secret place where even her father Turrok, whose power was stronger, couldn't even know of. But it seemed like Maeve escaped and somehow made it here to this island. She didn't change much, but looked skinnier than how they remembered she was. Her skin was pale, but she was fine. Still having that bravery facial expression as well as a determined gesture, she only wore different outfit now. Her blue shirt was shaped of the V-designed neck with laces around which made her feminine charms stand out, hugged nicely against her body, and revealed the delicate curves that could easily attract the opposite gender's attention. She wore pants now, the kind of material that was somewhat similar to Sinbad's. They lasted longer because she needed them to. As much surprised as how the guys were, she didn't believe that her former family finally found her. She's been waiting for the longest time ever, as if it was centuries since she last saw them. Sometimes she wanted to give up hopes, but a Celtic personality in her got her back up again. She couldn't allow herself to surrender, because surrender meant she was lost against her number one enemy Rumina. Surrender meant she gave up on Dermott, whom she'd be willing to do anything just to transform him back to his human side. Until she could escape Rumina's trap, she must not let go off hopes. So she patiently waited in that undefined dimension and continuously practiced her magic, hoping one day to break free. And she did. For some reason, Rumina's spell grew weak which let Maeve find a crack between that unreal world and the world she yearned to go back. There was no risk using her magic to make the crack big enough for her to get through. She did it and found herself landed on this island. So she's been living here for almost six months and waiting for a ship to come by to get her out. It was out of her expectation that her crew members were the rescuers. She had frequently thought that they already gave up finding her. But she was wrong. Never was there a moment the crew stopped looking for their Celtic sorceress. And now, they were finally reunited. What could be greater? Without any hesitation, she ran into the guys for the biggest hug ever. In the same manner, the guys didn't waste any second. They had waited long enough for this moment to come, so why waste it now? Both sides came into each other's embrace and buried their faces in tears and laughter, tears of joy and laughter of satisfaction. They stood there hugging for the longest time ever, since each was afraid to lose a dearest member again. Until the sorceress couldn't breathe anymore, they finally let go.

"Thank goodness you're alive lass. We didn't expect to see you here. We thought you were somewhere out in the universe," started Doubar. He managed to remain strong and tough, but his tears betrayed his outward look.

Maeve replied, "Me too, Doubar. I didn't think you guys would make it here. I thought I was forgotten after such a long time."

"Nonsense!" Firouz claimed. "How could you be forgotten? You had no idea how we anxiously waited for your return."

Rongar didn't make himself left out of the conversation. Gently signing with Maeve, she slowly interpreted his movements.

"I agree with you Rongar. It's great to be back now. This is the happiest moment that I've been looking forward to."

Everyone was waiting for the captain's words. He was too shocked to believe that Maeve was finally back. Not being able to keep his eyes off of her, he looked at her precisely, from head to toe, and then back up again at her face. *_Is it the reality that she finally came back?_* was what the seven-sea-master was wondering. He was pulled into his deep thought that he didn't notice everyone's gazing on him and Maeve. Maeve was beginning to feel a little bit awkward, so she decided to start.

"Sinbad, if you keep looking at me like this without saying anything," grinning Maeve playfully, "I feel like you can see every piece of my inside organ."

Her words brought his mind to the present. She just actually confirmed that his question was given a "yes" answer. Not knowing what to say, Sinbad took her into a strong and secure hug; he finally spoke up, "Welcome back, Maeve."

The entire scene was witnessed by the member who seemed to be forgotten momentarily. Bryn couldn't say a word. Obviously, she didn't know what to say. The crew as well as herself, no one had ever expected to find Maeve here on the strange island. Everybody always had thought that they would have rescued Maeve from their final battle against Rumina, for it was sure that Maeve was trapped by such evil witch. Moreover, Bryn was surprised, or rather stunned, to see how the crew were so close to Maeve. She had heard about Maeve and knew of her relationship with each member. She couldn't deny the fact that Maeve was important and needed, as much as Bryn herself was. Of course, there were numerous times where Bryn had pictured the crew's reunion with their former sorceress; and in these times Bryn would remind herself to relax and share the joy with the guys. Wasn't sharing and caring all that Bryn was about? So, why should things with a former member make Bryn feel tensed? She's been reminding herself of these thoughts and prepared to meet Maeve. But it didn't turn out as planned. A small part of Bryn wanted to be cheerful for Maeve's return. The bigger part, on the other hand, sort of prevented Bryn from being a delightful member as she usually was. This conflict really made her feel uncomfortable. Especially, the inner voice that called out to her earlier was stronger in her mind now. It kept on warning Bryn of something unexpected to happen. She didn't think it was her instinct to warn herself till now. Was it about Maeve? She wasn't sure, but she certainly knew that everything happened till now, or the reunion on a strange island in other word, had a purpose. What was the purpose? She'd need to find out as soon as possible. The longer she left this feeling undone, the more anxious she knew she'd grow. She decided to keep all her thoughts for herself, for she didn't want to be rudely interrupting the crew's happiness. So, she kept her all her wonders for herself and put up a mask outwardly as if she had never felt anything uncomfortable. During the whole time, she didn't keep her eyes off of her captain. For whatever the reason was, good or bad, she felt a strong force to pull her full attention on her sea-blue-eyed Sinbad. Watching his back after a long time had become her habit. She had to make sure that he was fine doing what he was supposed to, as well as how Sinbad always had his eyes on her. Somehow, these two people with their rainbow bracelets were connected by a strong bond. It helped explain why they sometimes could read each other's mind, to see the deepest thought in the other, and to feel the other's presence regardless of anything. Speaking of which, Sinbad finally felt her gaze upon him. Slightly blaming himself for forgetting about Bryn for a moment, he turned back into the house and reached out for Bryn's hands. He smiled warmly at her, the smile that only meant for one certain woman. Leading her closer to Maeve, he made the introduction.

"Bryn, this is Maeve. As you already knew, she was a member of our crew before you joined us."

Turning towards the red-haired sorceress, Sinbad continued. "Maeve, I'd like you to meet Bryn. She's been aboard since you were gone. Master Dim Dim sent her to us as a help to continue our battles against the evils, and of course to find you someday."

"A pleasure to meet you Maeve," said Bryn. "I've heard so much about you".

Not missing any detail of how Sinbad looked at Bryn, Maeve felt a slight stab in her heart. But she managed to hide her realization and returned Bryn with a friendly smile, Maeve started. "Pleasure's all mine. I see that Dermott and the crew found company while I was gone. I'm sure we'll both have good time getting to know each other."

"And I believe we all will have a great time together as a big family," exclaimed Doubar, interrupted the stream of consciousness flowing on Bryn's and Maeve's mind. "Now let's get out of here. I still can't shake off the creepy feelings from this island. Celebrations can't wait any longer."

Everyone agreed with Doubar's final statement. Surely they had to celebrate. With the course to Baghdad, they all could spend quality time together as a united crew. They started making their way out to the beach. Dermott landed on his long gone mistress's shoulder and joined the crew on their way back to the Nomad. Doubar, Firouz, and Rongar were all cheerful and excited. They didn't see that Sinbad, however, was a bit lost in his thoughts. Both Bryn and Maeve noticed the captain's state, but decided to keep it to themselves. As for the girls, they each carried with them different kinds of feelings. They both knew they had to come into terms with these feelings soon, or else things wouldn't be the same. As they were getting back on the Nomad, a sense of fear strongly swept up Bryn's back. She immediately looked back at the island but could see nothing there. Still, the fearful feelings remained in her head. Her facial expression got tensed as the result of an electrical jolt running quickly across her spine. It was like Bryn was struck by a powerful force that could cause terrible harm for her as well as the crew. This was a negative feeling, not just a simple warning anymore. She looked at her friends to find that they were all oblivious to what she just sensed. Deciding not to worry them, she kept the feeling for herself again. But she'd soon discuss with Sinbad about it. Anything but this fear couldn't be neglected. As the view of the island slowly faded, the guys felt good to be back at work again. Their mind was occupied that none of them, even Bryn, saw the island suddenly disappear. It was gone as if an invisible hurricane just swept by and took the island along.

But there was this one girl who held the dark art could sense the change. As her plan, the island was just an illusion to lure her target ashore. Now that things were getting into places, she couldn't help but grinning a half smile, the one that was once chaste but now so deadly, on her beautiful face. *_Let the play begin_* was her heartless whisper.


	3. Traitor

******Author's Note: Hello again! I hope my story is entertaining you so far. Okay so there'll be no more peaceful sailing from now! I'm warning you! Haha just kidding...well sort of... From now on, you'll be slowly exposed to the central drama of the story. Please let me know what you think or if there's anything unclear or confusing to you. Again, I'd like to send thousands of thankful words to my readers who keep up with this story and leave your reviews. Hopefully you'll enjoy chapter 3 here. **

******DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Adventures of Sinbad. The story I write here comes from my own imagination.**

The Nomad's crew still kept their plan to Baghdad. Everyone really looked forward to their destination, since it was a popular city where all the fun in the world could be found. It made the atmosphere very cheerful and exciting. Each crew member knew their duty and has been keeping up with it. Maeve wasn't any exception. She was ready to get back to work as if she had never been gone before. So for the entire week after her return, she did her best to adjust her life to this normal world with her former family. She asked Sinbad not to exclude her from any duty that a normal crew member was supposed to do. The captain, as well as everyone else, was so pleased to see that their sorceress was always responsible and time never changed her. With that being said, Maeve proved herself to be an excellent and needed member as she's been before. During her free time, she'd like to catch up with the guys about their adventures and all the fun she had missed. In turn, they wanted to know about the world she's been gone to. They all were open to any sharing and making up for the lost time. Moreover, Maeve wanted to get along with Bryn, the only female partner on board, whom she knew would be nice and friendly to befriend. Maeve also knew that Bryn had amnesia, and sometimes wasn't certain of the strong power she possessed. So she took advantage of any chance to help Bryn with any question or confusion regarding magic. Bryn, of course, couldn't refuse a great chance to finally get to have a female partner whom she knew she could trust and get along well. It made everyone, especially Sinbad, feel so great to see their girls getting closer every day.

It was the night before the Nomad reached Baghdad. After dinner, everyone went to their cabin for a good rest so they would be ready for the next busy days in Baghdad. Sinbad, however, didn't feel like going to bed early. For some reason, he felt like some fresh air would get his mind relaxed, so he went on deck. It was quiet and peaceful up here. Taking a deep breathe, Sinbad let the cool night breeze slightly brushed against his handsome face and blow his sun-kissed hair backward. The dark sky was filled with twinkling stars, as if the angels from the above were all awake and carefully watching the seamen. It was an enjoyable view that Sinbad wished to have someone to share it with. His mind quickly went to Bryn whom he loved deeply. Having to admit to himself, he knew he was occupied by Maeve after her return which made him want to catch up with her as much as possible. Eventually, his time for Bryn was taken away which now made him regretful. So there he was walking on deck and trying to figure out how to make it up for Bryn. Surprisingly, he found the object of his mind sitting at the bow of his ship. She seemed to have her mind wandering to the quiet scene and let her soul travel to where heaven was. Totally unaware of her surrounding, she didn't notice Sinbad's presence as he slowly walked to her.

"Beautiful night, isn't it?" he stated.

His words got her attention back to the real world. Turning to him with the smile that melted his heart, she replied, "Indeed. It'll be quite a waste not to be here and enjoy it."

"I thought so too," Sinbad continued. "Fresh air and beautiful night view promise a good night rest."

"That makes two of us," Bryn answered using his own words.

Grinning at her, Sinbad reached out his hand to get Bryn stand up and face him. He gently pulled her into a tender hug as if to keep her as close to him as possible. Being with her in this proximity made him realize how much he missed her company during the last week. He missed how good her hair smelled, how well she fit into his arms, and most importantly how lovingly she returned his embrace. Finally taking a step back, Sinbad looked down at her with his eyes filled with love and care. He spoke, "It feels great to have you in my arms again. The past week was good, but somehow I felt long and sort of empty for not being with you much often. Maeve's return occupied me with joy and many questions. It took away our quality time and I'm sorry about that."

"Don't be sorry Sinbad. I know Maeve had always been a valuable member of the crew. It's great to have her back. If I had known her before, I wouldn't waste any chance to get some catching up. You don't have to be sorry about anything. I understand."

Bryn's answer got Sinbad so pleased. He knew she would be understanding and forgiving any of his actions or behaviors. The woman standing in front of him was the kindest person he had ever known, which explained why he never regretted giving his heart to her. He then cupped her face in his hand and lifted it up close to his to give her a long lasting kiss, a very much needed one after having gone missing for a week. His other arm wrapped protectively and possessively around her waist, slowly pulling her closer against his body to feel her presence more clearly. Bryn, in return, found herself not being able to resist the captain's display of affection. She kissed him back passionately as if they had been apart for the longest time and needed to make up for their lost time. Raising her arms and circling them around Sinbad's neck, Bryn pulled him down as her mouth opened for him to explore. She felt the urgent need to show him how crazily she missed him and wanted to kiss him. So she was giving all her love in this kiss. If she wasn't kissing him at this moment, she thought she would never have another chance to do it. Sinbad, of course, was surprised at Bryn's initiative but also happily responded to her invitation. His tongue didn't hesitate to explore how sweet her mouth tasted. He tightened his embrace and added in more heat to their kiss. After a while, they breathlessly broke apart and felt regretted having to stop. Keeping their foreheads against each other's, Sinbad whispered to Bryn, "Thank you."

She smiled satisfyingly at his words, knowing that she too needed his loving affection. They then started talking, as they always did, about the past days. It's been a week since Maeve's return from the mysterious island where Bryn's been warned by unclear feelings. She's been trying to figure out how to discuss this with Sinbad, but she hadn't got a chance to do so until now. Even though she was enjoying Sinbad's company at this moment, she still couldn't shake off those negative feelings. Obviously, her concern didn't pass Sinbad's intuition. He surely knew something was troubling her, so he looked attentively at her, waiting for her to open up. From the look on his face, she understood that she was signaled to share what was on her mind.

"You know that I'd always like our crew to have much peaceful time together," she started. "But ever since stepping on that mysterious island where Maeve was found, uneasy feelings have been bothering me. Something there, which I'm totally unsure of what it was, made me concerned that bad things, or even danger, are watching for us."

"I agree that none of us felt safe about that island," Sinbad replied. "Do you think your feelings have something to do with your magic?"

"It could be. The whole time we were there, I felt a voice in my head telling me to leave right away. It was as if my instinct was warning me."

"Have you got any more insight since we left?"

"Not that I know of. Everything seems normal as usual, but I don't feel assured at all."

"Well, don't let those feelings badly haunt you." Sinbad said as he touched her cheek and caressed her face. "I'll keep a watchful eye on you. Nothing will ever go wrong to you or any of our crew, I promise."

His words could always comfort Bryn. She knew that talking to Sinbad could always make her feel safe and peaceful easily. Never would she doubt his ability to lift her spirit up. Giving him another big smile, she moved forward to rest her head on his wide chest while encircling her arms around his back. Sinbad knew she was thanking him for his promise, so he returned her hug warmly. His right arm wrapped around her waist, while the other arm rested on her back. His left hand was soothing her hair as to ease any possible tension that would cause her harm. Bryn felt secured in Sinbad's embrace and contentedly enjoyed the moment. Neither of them noticed Maeve who happened to go on deck for some fresh air as well. Witnessing the whole previous kissing scene between Bryn and Sinbad, Maeve's heart shattered into thousands of pieces. She always thought Sinbad would have chosen her to be his love despite her being a firebrand to him sometimes. Of course she knew of him being a womanizer and having girls around him every time he went to different ports, but she never could imagine that his heart would settle for someone else but her. Being gone for almost five years, Maeve always had hoped that Sinbad would have kept an affirming space for her in his heart. After all, they met when both were young. As time went by, Maeve was pretty sure that something's been blossoming between the two. She'd like to think that it was a growing love that was drawing them closer each day. All these thoughts couldn't get her believe that she had lost Sinbad to Bryn, a woman to replace her role in the past five years. Broken, disappointment, hopelessness, sense of betrayed bitterly filled her soul. She couldn't stand any longer second seeing Bryn and Sinbad cuddling, she quickly ran back to her cabin and buried her face in sobers and trails of tear. Sadly, Dermott couldn't do anything but to watch his sister suffering. As much as he loved her and wanted to defend her, he himself couldn't deny the fact that Bryn was the perfect choice for Sinbad. He has been watching them grow together, knowing of the strong bond existing between the two. Sadly chirping, he seemed to make his effort to comfort his sister who had just lost her dearest man. Looking outside the porthole, Dermott could tell that tonight was going to be a long one. For some people, it'd be an enjoyable one while others took it with harsh reaction. The rest of the crew would just simply be content with what they had. No one knew what tomorrow would bring. Whatever it was going to be, optimistic or not, the answer was held in the hand of the Great Time Keeper who enjoyed watching humans in wait and worthily rewarded those who passed His challenge.

The next morning greeted the Nomad with bright and warm sunlight shining on deck. Almost everyone was up and getting themselves ready to reach Baghdad. Rongar was at the tiller as usual. He felt a strong responsibility to sail the ship safely to any destination. Sinbad trusted him much enough to let him take charge when the captain wasn't at his sailing duty. Next to Rongar, Firouz was talking about their plans for Baghdad. He just finished the music box for Bryn last night. Now the two were talking about what to make for Maeve since she finally returned. They both wanted to have something very special for their Celtic sorceress. During the conversation, they didn't take their eyes off of Maeve who was found leaning against the railing and talking to Dermott. Her soft body figure and slow moment somewhat showed them that she didn't have a good rest last night. So Firouz decided to approach her and see if he could offer some help. Doubar, the first mate, was busy giving the final check on their cargoes below deck before their delivery. He wasn't bothered much about the fact that the ship captain wasn't up yet. Even though Sinbad was supposed to keep up with his role model as the leader, he was still a normal human who needed exceptions sometimes. The sun was getting higher in the sky but Sinbad still didn't show up yet. That meant he was being occupied by the only woman of his heart. Doubar knew that his little brother didn't get to spend much quality time with Bryn the past week. He was glad that Sinbad could find a chance somewhere last night to get to Bryn. They both deserved some privacy which made Doubar not want to disturb them in their little loving world. He decided to give them some more minutes before getting the captain back to his duties.

Inside the captain's quarter, Bryn and Sinbad were getting ready for a new day. They had decided to stay together last night which gave their mind nice refreshment. With joyful spirit, they went up deck and prepared to reach their destination. Everyone seemed to be doing their usual tasks. Sinbad went to Rongar for the tiller, while Bryn decided to join Firouz and Maeve for their conversation. They were in the middle of talking about Yuletide approaching soon. During the whole time, neither Bryn nor Firouz sensed any abnormal thing or behavior from Maeve. Their red-haired sorceress was intentionally hiding her pain from having discovered Sinbad and Bryn's love last night. She didn't want anyone to pity her for her loss, nor would she need any comfort from her crew. She was strong and stubborn enough to endure the loss on her own. Dermott would be the only member to know of her secret. He was her brother, her only family member after all, and she didn't want to have any secret between them. Although Firouz had noticed of her insecurity earlier, she had quickly put a mask on her true feeling and driven the scientist's concern to a different direction. He completely believed her, so they started on the topic of Yuletide. Even when Bryn came in their conversation, Maeve still didn't show any unusual feeling. Meanwhile, Doubar just joined his younger brother and the Moor at the tiller after having finished the final check-up on their cargoes. Sinbad and Rongar were also talking about Yuletide, more specifically on where to spend the holiday.

"We're reaching Baghdad in an hour," stated Sinbad. "I intend to stay here for a while, perhaps to spend Yuletide here as well. What do you think?"

His big brother replied, "You know I'd go for it. Who would deny a bustling city like Baghdad?"

Rongar gestured his opinion and Sinbad kindly replied, "I agree with you. We got to see if the crew agrees with the captain's idea or not. I surely will discuss with them once we are done with the delivery."

Later that morning, the Nomad finally got to Baghdad and was securely docked at port. Sinbad and Doubar went straight to the city caliph's house to deliver their wine, while Firouz and Rongar found their way to the local tavern to rent the rooms for the crew. Bryn had just successfully convinced Maeve to join her browsing the market. Maeve got interested in buying gifts for the crew, so she happily tagged along. Surprisingly, Maeve didn't seem to be bothered about the fact that she's been defeated by Bryn in winning their captain's heart. *_Everything has its purpose_*. She's been reminding herself of Master Dim-Dim's proverb since last night, and she believed that her loss had its own purpose as well. Not wanting to have any sense of bitterness to fill her pure soul, she had decided to let go of Sinbad. It wasn't easy for sure, but she knew she had to accept the truth. Bryn would be another family crewmember of hers anyway, so she shouldn't bare any hatred or revenge against Bryn. Another reason that got Maeve to join Bryn was because Maeve wanted to do something if she wanted to keep her mind off of Sinbad. Occupying herself with anything sounded reasonable, so she walked with Bryn to the market. Dermott, of course, didn't leave his sister's side. He wanted to keep his eyes on both of the girls, his sister and his dear friend. He needed to make sure that these two women were getting along just fine, or else he and the crew would have to deal with a harsh reality in the near future. So there they were, two ladies and a hawk, exploring the busy market in Baghdad.

The city was certainly in the spirit of celebrating Yuletide. It'd be about a week until the official holiday, and the streets were filled with pretty decorations. Lights were hung across from houses to make the streets a lot brighter at night. Each house had springs of spine hanging on the main door and the windows. Red, green, and white were the three main colors for the theme of this season. There were many people in the street as well as the market. A lot of sales and trading were taking place. Many merchants from other regions had come to Baghdad around this time, for they didn't want to miss a chance to conduct business and to make profit in the spirit of this holiday. Knowing that a large amount of citizen inhabited here as well as a lot of tourists would like to come to Baghdad to settle for the holidays, all the merchants made sure that they could maintain a stable amount of good deals to offer for the customers. Yuletide date was near, but the good deals haven't been run out yet. Eventually, many things got both Bryn's and Maeve's attention to check out. It took them almost the whole afternoon to go around and buy things. By the time they got back to the tavern, it was almost evening time and everyone was already waiting for them.

"Sorry. We were so lost in shopping." Maeve voiced it when she saw the impatient look on Doubar's face.

"Women," he rolled his eyes, "are the greatest fans of shopping."

That statement got the whole crew burst out laughing. Firouz then gave the girls the key to their shared room while both Sinbad and Rongar were caught in some sort of party Doubar was mentioning.

"Salar, the Prince of Baghdad, has allowed the city to party every night from now until the official Yuletide date comes," Doubar continued. "The city's been making great profit the past year, so they are in the high spirit of celebration. Anyone is welcome to join. I say that we all go and enjoy ourselves."

"Aye," Firouz jumped in. "It'd be pleasant to enjoy such great atmosphere."

Everyone else seemed to agree with Doubar and Firouz, Sinbad then brought up the topic that he was discussing with his brother and Rongar this morning. "What do you say about us spending the holiday here?"

He could see that his entire crew was nodding their heads in agreement. Grinning at them, he said, "All right. It is settled. Now let us get ready for tonight event."

At the captain's final words, everyone dismissed to go to their room for some preparation. Two hours later came back the all dressed-up crew members, especially the girls. Their shopping skills absolutely rewarded them best. Maeve was wearing a red knee-lengthened dress. It was sleeveless with white laces wrapping around her waist. She looked like an angel coming from heaven to join the Nomad crew for the holiday. And she looked astonishingly attractive, that's for sure. Everyone, even herself, was stunned at her feminine appearance. Maeve was satisfied by her well dressing. Bryn, on the other hand, was wearing simpler outfit. The white dress she put on was similar to her usual yellow one. But this new one had some red fabric going around her neck and reaching down to stop at the middle of her chest. The fabric was the main highlight that made up a V-neck design and wrapped about her belly on the dress. Maeve had helped Bryn to pick this dress which gave her an elegant outlook and took Sinbad's breath away for a second. But he was cautious enough not to show his reaction too explicitly. If there was anything related to Bryn's beauty, he'd like to keep it between them. Any compliments were preferred in his privacy with her. With that type of mentality, he gave both the girls an equally approving nod as his remark. The whole group then left the tavern for the party being held at the town center.

It wasn't too far from the tavern to get to the party. The town people all looked so excited to be here. Food and drinks were freely served by beautiful ladies. Tables were full of people eating, drinking, and talking. There was a live band playing near the fountain at the center of the party. Many people were dancing cheerfully along the merry music. Sinbad and his crew were looking for an empty table to settle down. Luckily, Rongar spotted a good one to the far left of the band. So everyone headed there before fully fitting themselves in the high spirit of the city. Several maids quickly came to the crew's spot, for they recognized the handsome face of the Nomad's captain. Doubar, Firouz, and Rongar were occupied as well which quite left out their two girls. They weren't surprised at the reality that women would be all over Sinbad everywhere he went. But they weren't left alone for so long. Heading towards them was a group of people led by a luxuriously dressed young man. His outfit showed that he had a great fortune, but his body language displayed a noble gesture of a fine gentleman. He got to where the two ladies were standing, kindly bowed at them and made his introduction.

"My name is Salar, the Prince of Baghdad. My two ladies here must be foreigners. May I have the honor of knowing your identities?"

Maeve smiled sweetly at the prince and softly replied, "I'm Maeve, a crewmember from the Nomad ship. This is one of my close partners named Bryn." She slowly gestured at Bryn as the prince closely followed Maeve's direction.

"It's our honor to meet you," Bryn continued.

"Maeve and Bryn, the most beautiful names I've ever heard of." The prince responded as he took in each lady's hand and gave them a kiss. "The pleasure is all mine." He replied before noticing the group of men sitting close by the girls. The guys saw that they had visitor, so they quickly stood up and made themselves introduced.

"I'm Sinbad, the Nomad's captain," Sinbad started. He then pointed to his brother, Rongar, and Firouz to make them clearly known.

The prince gently shook hand with each member, "I'm called Salar, a long lived citizen here at Baghdad. Welcome to one of the most popular cities."

"It's great to know you Prince Salar. I've seen that your city is lucky to have such a fine ruler." Sinbad continued.

"Great party, I must say my Prince." Doubar commented.

"I'm happy that you are all pleased. Please, make yourselves as home." The Prince kindly told the group. He then turned his attention to the brunette in the white dress, "May I ask my lovely lady here for a dance?" He formally requested as reaching out his hand. Bryn couldn't find any reason to refuse him, so she nicely accepted. He slowly led her to the crowd where people's mind was being occupied by the joyful music. Rongar then turned to Maeve with a widely open hand as Firouz interpreted the Moor's body language.

"Every beautiful lady is well deserved a dance with a royal prince." Firouz said.

Maeve was happy to be offered a dance. It's been a while since she last danced with someone or fully enjoyed herself. She wasn't hesitant to take Rongar's hand and they both started heading to the direction of the crowd. She planned to have all the fun she deserved for tonight. Meanwhile, Firouz, Doubar, and Sinbad sat back to relax and enjoy themselves. They ate some dishes offered by the maids and drank ale here and there. They were enjoying the party but didn't intend to overdrink, especially Sinbad. He couldn't stand the last hangover because he was badly drunk with his brother. It was a bad decision to keep up with Doubar's limit and got everyone worried for a couple days. That's why Sinbad wanted to stay awake despite Doubar's attempt. Not so long later, Prince Salar and Bryn returned to their table. The prince quickly retreated himself for some of his business. That left Bryn to stay by her captain's side, which she's been longing for. Sinbad in turn was eager to have her back next to him. From this close distance, he could freely look at Bryn's form and adore her beauty. He was about to ask her for a dance with him when all of a sudden, an old friend of his, Karl, pumped into the group and started talking. Sinbad couldn't rudely refuse some catching up, so he turned to his friend after giving Bryn an apologetic look. She let out a light sigh without him knowing, but still kindly let Sinbad be occupied with Karl. She then looked around to see how her other friends were doing. Firouz, similarly to Sinbad, was caught up in conversation with a local doctor. Her genius friend was always amazed by science about which he could spend endless time to talk. She then shook her head and laughed at Doubar who was beating several young men in a drinking contest. *_Anybody who dares to challenge Doubar at drinking surely gets an insane mind._* Bryn thought to herself, for she knew Doubar's unlimited drinking skill. Last time, Sinbad took the consequences for keeping up with his brother. They were family, but Doubar wouldn't go easy on Sinbad. It eventually led to Sinbad's hangover for a couple days which got Bryn worried so much. She'd thought he wouldn't have recovered, but he did, and she was all relieved. Still looking around, she saw that Rongar and Maeve were making their way back to the table. Maeve was wearing the happiest smile on her delicate face while Rongar kept on complimenting her dancing skill. They both had a great time, Bryn was sure. The three then started talking for a bit until a maid approached them. She was one of Salar's maids, according to their memories. It looked like the prince needed some talking with Bryn, so she had to excuse herself from Maeve and Rongar to follow the maid.

"I won't be taking long," said Bryn before turning her back on her friends. She passed a quick look at Sinbad, but he didn't notice her leaving.

"We'll all be here for you." Maeve replied as Bryn's form was getting into the crowd. She then turned back to Rongar to enjoy the party. Firouz and Doubar came back at the table not so long later. Sinbad had just finished his conversation with Karl who politely excused himself from the crew.

A couple hours passed by and Bryn wasn't back yet. People were leaving the party for the night, and there was still no sign of Bryn. It got the crew worried, especially Sinbad. She hadn't been out of his sight for this long, or not that he remembered. It wasn't like he was being controlled over her or anything. It was just because she was too attached to him that he got worried about her once her presence was out of his reach. What if something terribly happened to her? He'd never forgive himself for not being able to protect her. The crew could sense their captain's concern, so they all decided to go look for Bryn. They asked some maids about a medium brunette who went to meet the prince. The maids were kind enough to show the crew where the prince could possibly be at this time. It was another fountain not so far from here where Prince Salar used to go there with his mother when he was little. So the crew got the direction to find that fountain, Sinbad was leading the way. It didn't take them so long to locate their object, but what was going on at that specific fountain could never be erased from each member's mind. It was an unforgettable moment that struck everyone, but most negatively was Sinbad. What they found out was unbelievable, for sitting in front of them on top of the fountain was Bryn who was found being buried in series of kisses from the prince. Both Salar and Bryn were so lost in their private little world that they didn't want to be bothered by their surroundings. They were so much into passionate kissing that even Dermott's chirps couldn't separate them. Firouz, Rongar, and Doubar equally shared the shocking look on their faces, unbelieving that the lady in Salar's arms was Bryn. Maeve gasped in horror with both hands covering her mouth, as if she was afraid to let out the smallest sound which could break the fragile world of Sinbad. The captain wasn't in any better state. The love of his life, the only woman whom he gave his heart to, the most important other half of his soul was seen kissing another man. At this moment, his trust and love in her was completely destroyed. Everything they had built in the last five years fell apart in one second. Sinbad's face got so tensed that he wished he could jump in to tear Salar apart. But he didn't do it. Yes, he was very angry, but it didn't mean his anger would take over. Doubar was standing right behind his brother to hold his back. He could sense his brother's hand forming a wrenching fist which could kill a seal in just one punch. Not wanting to witness the scene any longer, Sinbad immediately turned his back on the kissing couple and rushed to the tavern. The rest of the crew quickly followed without hesitation. Even then, Bryn still didn't break off the kiss. *_Her mind was completely lost to let this happen_* was the thought that ran through everyone's mind right now.

The next morning, Sinbad ordered to leave Baghdad as soon as possible, for he couldn't stand being here anymore. Everyone then quickly packed up and was ready to leave the tavern. Unfortunately, Bryn wasn't seen going downstairs with Maeve.

"She didn't come back last night?" asked Firouz.

Shaking her head, Maeve confirmed that Bryn was out the whole night. Sinbad couldn't believe it. *_How could she do this to me?_* He whispered to himself, then ran off the tavern just to unexpectedly pump into Bryn.

"Good morning Sinbad." She quickly greeted him, realizing the angry look on his face. "You're in a rush?"

He didn't want to answer her. In fact, he wouldn't even want to look at her. He headed towards his ship without saying anything. Everyone else quickly followed while sending Bryn a mocking look. She was left speechless at the whole situation, but then hurriedly caught up to them to the Nomad. Once everyone was onboard, Sinbad roughly ordered to cast off. The crew left Baghdad in anger and frustration. Yuletide failed to be a special occasion for the crew, especially for Sinbad and Bryn, this year.


	4. Accidental or All Planned Events?

******Author's Note: Greetings from FluffyLicorne. I hope my last chapter left you with some questions of why my characters behaved in certain ways. Well you could say they were OOC. Your questions will be answered here in this chapter. Another thing is that I added in more drama and tension between my main favorite characters. Like I said, you'll be guided to the central drama of the story which is connected to its title. Let me know what you think. Thank you again for your time and reviews. Hope you'll like what I have for chapter 4. Here it is! **

******DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Adventures of Sinbad. The story I write here comes from my own imagination.**

The next couple days filled the ship with gloomy atmosphere as if a terrible disaster had just fallen on the Nomad's crew. They have been sailing for a week and finally decided to stop at an island called Brisa. After docking the ship securely at the port, everyone went their separate way to the town. It was only Bryn and Sinbad to be left alone aboard. Barely anyone talked to Bryn. Even if they wanted to, they still couldn't do it in front of their captain who was still pissed from the stay in Baghdad. Bryn didn't know why, for everyone refused to explain the reason to her. She felt like being unreasonably isolated from the rest of her family, especially from the dearest man of her life. Sinbad's been roughly distant from her since the day they left Baghdad. He refused to talk to her or anyone else. Besides plainly fulfilling his captain duties, he hardly was seen on deck. It left Bryn with so much worry that she thought something terribly had gone wrong with him. She then decided to pull her guts and talked it out with Sinbad today.

"Sinbad, please open the door for me." She slowly asked while knocking on his door. "We need to talk."

There was no reply from him, as if he was dead asleep. She knew he was avoiding her, so she patiently went on. "Please Sinbad. I know there's something wrong. It's been terrible seeing you treat me this way." She pleaded, hoping to shake his determination. "Please let me in so we can talk about this together, like we always do."

The door swung open from the inside which frightened Bryn for a second. She could sense that what was happening next wouldn't be easy to take in.

"What do you want Bryn?" Sinbad asked coldly. He was looking at her now, but his look was so serious that Bryn's heart got discouraged to speak up what was on her mind. He crossed his arms against his chest and was impatiently waiting for Bryn to start, as if she was taking his precious time. She didn't miss any cue from his behaviors, so she decided to go in.

"What's wrong Sinbad? You've been so strangely distant to be the past couple days. I need to know why."

"Why? Why don't you ask yourself what you had done?"

"What had I done wrong to get such harshness from you?"

"Don't pretend like you knew nothing." His voice was getting louder than the beginning.

"I don't know anything," replied Bryn. Her heart started to beat faster now, as if she was about to be convicted of something she was totally unaware of.

"Don't say you know nothing," yelled Sinbad. He totally lost himself now. "After all we've been through, you would be turning away from our love."

"What are you saying?" Bryn's voice was trembling. "I never turn away from our love."

"Enough! I don't want to hear anything from you. You betrayed me, betrayed everything we had together. I should have known better that you witch don't do any good."

His last words brought the conversation to its climax. Tension's been building up that neither of them could hold onto their patience any longer. Sinbad let out a frustrated sound with agony. Bryn, in turn, urgently stormed out of Sinbad's cabin with her eyes filled with tears. She didn't know why Sinbad insulted her so negatively, but she couldn't bear any other insults from him again. Rushing off the ship, she ran to the island without looking back. Sinbad wasn't even bothered to stop her. He too felt so helpless and desperate to have any wits with him at the moment. Night quickly fell and Sinbad didn't come out of his room. He sleeplessly spent the rest of the night pondering on their conversation. Was he being overreacted to her? The look in her eyes told him that she didn't know what he was talking about. She never lied to him, and he knew it better than anyone. But her actions showed otherwise. What was going on in her mind? He couldn't figure out. But he could sense that she was badly hurt by his words. Feeling a bit regretful for the spoken words, he prayed that Bryn wouldn't do anything foolish to hurt herself. They had to talk again the next day, and Sinbad promised himself to keep his anger under control.

The next day wasn't any better. Clouds quickly filled the sky to forecast a terrible storm to happen soon. The captain finally went out to the galley and was stopped by Doubar half way.

"Bryn wasn't here all night. Do you know where she is?"

"What makes you think I have the answer?" rudely answered Sinbad. He wasn't completely cool off yet.

"Because we all knew you were the last person to speak to her yesterday," Doubar replied. "Little brother, I know what we saw in Baghdad was unbelievable. But at least you got to give her a chance to explain. She seemed clueless of why you treated her so cruelly the past week, and I don't think she was pretending at all."

Doubar was right. Sinbad didn't see that she was pretending either. The worried look instantly flashed on the captain's face as he realized how terribly harm Bryn could get into once she was out of his protection. This time could be worse, since they were at a strange island that they had no idea of.

"I have to find her Doubar. I won't forgive myself if anything goes wrong with her. She can't be away for too long."

"But it's going to rain soon. Where do you think you can find her in the middle of this weather?"

"I don't know, but I have to act quickly."

Sinbad then rushed off his ship to follow Bryn, believing that his rainbow bracelet would lead his way to her. He didn't care that the rain was starting to pour heavily from the sky. All was on his mind now was to find Bryn and he had to do it. Any longer second of her being away from him could be dangerous to her. He couldn't let it happen, so he was following his instinct further into the island for any sign of her. He finally found the village not too far from the beach. People were hurriedly getting inside their houses to get away from the storm. Then he saw her, running from the opposite direction, as if she was running back to the Nomad.

"Bryn! Over here!" He gladly called out and started running towards her.

She heard it, the voice that's been haunting her soul since their last conversation. His words didn't stop echoing in her head. As soon as she saw where he was standing, she turned backwards and ran away from him. She didn't want to be back at his side, or wasn't ready to face him yet. It was her turn now to avoid him. She wasn't sure why, just knew that she was afraid of any other conviction from him again. So she ran, as fast as possible, as far as possible, to be away from Sinbad. Effortlessly going against the rain, she kept her feet on running. Sinbad was surprised at her reactions, but soon speeded to catch up with her.

"Bryn, stop! Please stop running" He sincerely called to her. "Come back Bryn."

She wasn't listening. Even though heavy raindrops were spatting against her soft skin, she was still running, not knowing where to. She then was grabbed by the elbow and turned backward to face the man she was avoiding.

"Bryn, listen to me." Sinbad breathlessly spoke. "I'm sorry I'd treated you and insulted you heartlessly. I'm sorry for every word I said. Don't leave please. I can't lose you."

She swung his grips away from her and cried to him, "I'm not a traitor Sinbad. I'll never do anything to wrong you." Sobbing more heavily, she felt like she couldn't catch her breath. "I'm not a traitor."

She kept repeating those last words which became countless daggers to shoot through the captain's heart. He pulled her into his arms and embraced her tightly. She was so fragile now that even a slight touch could break her heart. It was him who caused her such damage. She was crying and tightened her grips on his shirt. He knew she needed him, needed his comfort, needed his assurance, and needed his love to protect her hurtful form. Quickly brought her face to his, he sealed her lips with a fierce kiss, strong like the storm around them and sweet like their embrace around each other. Bryn returned his kiss with the same passion, like she would have lost him if not amorously kissing him like now. They stood there kissing for a while without caring about the storm, for they had each other's love to keep them safe now. Sinbad finally broke off the kiss to realize that Bryn was shivering. Her skin was getting so cold and her face turned pale. Frightening, Sinbad quickly took her to the closest house to ask for a shelter. It turned out to be a small inn and still had some rooms left for tourists. The owner was an elder who ran the business with his grandson Borna's help. They were very kind to the couple that they even offered extra blankets, considering the shaking form of Bryn after she had entered the inn. After Borna took the customers to their room, he went to the kitchen to get them some hot soup. He was just a seven-year-old boy but very considerate of others' needs. Both Sinbad and Bryn carried a great appreciation towards the owner and Borna.

Night had fallen on the island, yet it didn't stop raining. Inside Sinbad and Bryn's room, Bryn was having a light fever. Sinbad had already lit all the candles he found and wrapped her up under many layers of blankets. Still, she felt cold and needed more warmth. He didn't know what to do, since he wasn't a skillful physician like Firouz. He was helplessly looking at Bryn with concerns, worried that her condition might get worse. But she knew she wouldn't. She knew what she needed to fight against the cold. So she slowly got up despite Sinbad's protest, she didn't mean to get out of bed though. Sinbad was wondering what Bryn was up to, until he could read the sense of playfulness in her wet brown eyes. The look on her face revealed what needed to be told.

"I don't think it's a good idea Bryn," denied Sinbad. "You're sick. I don't want anything else to you but a good rest."

Mischievously grinning at his denial, she jumped in, "And you surely know how to give me a good rest captain."

Not waiting for him to answer, Bryn grabbed his blue vest and pulled him close to her. She then pressed herself against his chest, letting him feel her cold flesh that was yearning for his warmth. Her lips met his in a tender kiss, soft at first, and then gradually getting more affirming. As much as Sinbad's wit was calling for protest, his body failed to follow. Bryn's hands were touching his chest that aroused his sense of desire. He then put his hand behind her back to untie all the knots on her dress. Meanwhile, Bryn was pulling off his blue vest and getting rid of his white shirt which were both barriers for her exploration. Satisfied that her own outfit was finally off of her, she lied down, looking at Sinbad as the rest of his clothes were quickly pulled off as well. He then jumped in bed with her and buried her face with series of kisses. The captain could be seen lying on top of Bryn, covering her body with his masculine one, and didn't forget to pull the blanket on top of their bodies. They spent the rest of the night in each other's arms doing all the things in the name of love. When they broke apart and calmly lied down together, satisfaction could be seen in their eyes as they gazed at each other. The captain leaned in to give his woman a long deep kiss, showing her how much he loved her and needed her in his life. She softly returned his kiss with all the love she had to willingly offer him. Their bodies were found entwining to each other in the bed. They fell into a peaceful sleep that guaranteed a good new day to follow.

Both the captain and the love of his life had no pieces of clothes on besides the rainbow bracelets on their wrists. Such image appeared in the mirror inside a young woman's room. Her grind could be clearly heard as a red flash dashed out from her right hand, burning the mirror into ashes. She hasn't been angry like this for a long time, but she knew her anger shouldn't keep anything in her plans to go off track. As much as she hated seeing Sinbad and Bryn to be together, she felt a strong force to keep her head calm and made herself to keep up with her original plans. She then put her anger aside and concentrated on the next steps for her plan.

Sinbad awoke in the middle of the night to see his side empty. *_Bryn was probably getting drinks._* He thought to himself. *_It's still raining outside, she can't be gone anywhere._* He quickly drifted back to sleep, dreaming of their past wonderful moments together.

The next morning came with more joyful sun rays getting through the window. The couple was fully awake, but decided to linger for some more moments before getting up. Bryn's top half body was lying on top of Sinbad's chest which was steadily moving up and down as he breathed. The blanket covered her body from the waist down, leaving her naked back open for Sinbad to rest his left arm on. Her skin was so soft that Sinbad couldn't help fondling it. She satisfyingly smiled at his gentle caress and finally looked up at him.

"Good morning captain. Slept well?" She asked with a wide smile on her beautiful face.

"Morning." He replied with a grin on his handsome face which made Bryn blush. "It was a good night rest. I believe you had a good one too."

"Absolutely."

Bryn smiled at Sinbad and reached up to kiss him one last time before they got up. He returned with passion and tightened his embrace around her body. They finally broke apart after a while and moved out of bed to get dressed. Sinbad put on his leather pants while Bryn was gathering her clothes. After her five years being with Sinbad, she grew more comfortable revealing her body to him. She was shy at first, but now she didn't see why she would have any barriers between them. As Bryn was pulling her yellow dress up, Sinbad, who had just finished with his clothes, walked to her from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist and gave her a sweet kiss on her neck. She let him freely trail his lips from her neck down to her left shoulder and stop at her shoulder-blade where her tattoo located. He softly caressed it as if it was a fragile thing. It was a crescent bloody red moon embedded within a golden sun, almost looked more like an annular solar eclipse. Sinbad had noticed the existence of this tattoo after the first night they spent together. He had asked Bryn about it but got no answer from her unfortunately. She couldn't remember how or why she had it. It's been a mystery in her life that she always wanted to figure out. Sinbad felt sympathy for her inability to recall her life before joining his crew. He, in turn, also had a tattoo around each of his ankles. These two tattoos were identical and incomplete on each side. They both looked like the chains formed by multiple links. Sinbad knew he had it since birth, but could never find out why he had it or even its meaning. There was a time when he had been too concerned about the tattoo that he thought he was cursed. But he soon had learned that the mystery would remain the same no matter what he had tried to do. So he just let it be. The fact that they both had mysterious tattoos on their bodies was also another common they had together. Their rainbow bracelets were the first physical things they both shared. Of course they had no idea where they got them, but they knew the bracelets represented the strong bond that linked them together whenever danger was around. After they had found out about each other's unknown tattoos, they event felt more attached which allowed their love to grow stronger.

"Like you said, I'm a bit of mystery." Bryn stated, knowing that Sinbad was thinking about her tattoo.

Her words brought his mind back to the reality. He helped her pull on the dress and tightened the knots on her back. Making sure that her dress would be secured for a whole day, he turned her to face him and replied, "But that doesn't stop me from loving you."

She widely smiled again at his words and couldn't resist reaching up to kiss him again. After this final kiss, they walked together outside. They checked out the inn without forgetting to give sincere thanks to the owner and Borna. They were really surprised that both Borna and his grandfather thought Sinbad and Bryn would have settled at this village for their living. Sinbad then had to explain to these people that he and Bryn were sailors, and they would never settle down at any particular place. Bryn decided to step outside for some sunlight and suddenly found Rongar, Maeve, and Dermott looking for them. She ran to her shipmates and greeted them in delights. In contrast, Rongar and Maeve shot Bryn a hating look and didn't bother to respond to her. They saw Sinbad talking to the owner and hurriedly got his attention.

"Captain," Maeve began. "You need to get back to the Nomad now. Doubar was injured last night, and we need judgment for that."

Maeve's words struck Sinbad hard. When he left his big brother yesterday, everything seemed okay with him. How could he be injured? Sinbad immediately said his goodbye to Borna and his grandfather and rushed back to his ship along with Maeve, Rongar, Dermott, and Bryn. The brunette witch was very worried about Doubar. She's been away for two days and he got injured. She was praying on the way back that Doubar would be okay. She trusted Firouz's physician skills that he could be able to cure the big man. What concerned her most was how and why Doubar could have been injured. He was a tough guy among them, and no one in this close area knew their crew to cause harm to them. Maeve mentioned "judgment" earlier and Bryn wondered what it was supposed to mean.

Back at the Nomad, Doubar was given the best care by Firouz. He had asked Rongar and Maeve to go find Sinbad while he had to stay back and watched the first mate. He was injured pretty badly. His clothes were torn as if many archers where shot at him to cause such damage. There was a big burn, which was probably caused by heat, on his right arm. It wasn't like Doubar had burned himself while trying to cook a late night meal. Knowing clearly of how Doubar was injured, Firouz found it incredibly unbelievable. Still, what they had witnessed last night were so real and they both were extremely hurt by that. Doubar's face had some purple bruises on his cheeks and chin. It seemed like he had gotten in a big fight and ended up being beaten. This conclusion would seem unbelievable as well, for Doubar was always known as the winner, not the other way around.

"Big brother," exclaimed Sinbad to see his brother in such state. "Are you alright?"

"I am, for now." Doubar assured him. "But I'm surely left with scars afterwards."

"What happened?" Bryn asked worriedly.

It was when all eyes on the crew turned against her with hatred and disbelief. Both she and Sinbad were surprised at their friends' reactions.

"What are you asking Bryn? You don't know what happened?" Firouz questioned her with the strongest disappointment in his voice.

"What do you mean? I don't know what happened." She honestly replied with so much confusion.

"Stop acting you wicked woman," Firouz exploded. "You were the cause for all this. I still can't believe that you were once our family. How could you turn against us?"

Bryn looked at the scientist with shocking widely open eyes. She wasn't sure if she heard exactly the term "turn against us". She never had any plan of turning against her own family, nor would she ever be a wicked woman. What was Firouz saying? She looked around at Doubar, Rongar, and Maeve to see their reactions and found the equal hatred against her. Sinbad was the only one who didn't bear that facial expression.

He stated, "What do you mean she was the cause for all this Firouz?"

"She came here last night and attacked Doubar," cold-heartedly replied Firouz. "It may sound crazy, but it was her to cause your brother his harm."

"Nonsense! She can't be the cause at all," Sinbad defended Bryn. "She was with me last whole night. She couldn't stay with me at one place and be here on the ship at the same time."

"Don't you try to defend this witch Sinbad. She was the real culprit. Here's the proof." Firouz said as he pulled out Bryn's necklace, the one that Bryn had always been wearing like her rainbow bracelet. Surprisingly to both Bryn and Sinbad, her missing necklace was now found here on the Nomad. Last night when Sinbad and Bryn stayed together, she still had it on. For some reason, it was now here. She didn't know when she'd lost it. It was until Firouz took it out that both Bryn and Sinbad realized her necklace's been lost.

"How did this happen?" Both Sinbad and Bryn asked in unison.

Firouz was too tired of answering their nonsense questions, so he gave up. He thought that Bryn was simply acting again to conceal her guilt, just as how she did to Sinbad last time. Maeve then had to step in for a clearer explanation.

"Around the middle of last night, Firouz found Doubar in the galley waiting for you two to return. Doubar was having a sleepless night, because he was concerned how you two would deal with the past experience in Baghdad. They both hoped that you two would sort out the problem and reconcile soon. Firouz then told Doubar that he had finished making a music box for Bryn. It was for her Yuletide gift. And suddenly, Bryn, dressing in a black cloak, appeared out of nowhere and jumped in their conversation. She shamelessly mocked two of them that they were ignorant to think she'd like such stupid gift. Doubar knew the words were hurtful to Firouz, so he demanded an apology from Bryn. She laughed crazily at Doubar's request and used her magic to destroy the music box. She said it was her apology. It was when Doubar stood up at her, and she used her magic against Doubar. Then she quickly retreated, but her necklace accidentally fell down as she summoned her power. That's the whole story."

Both Bryn and Sinbad received the news with shocking eyes.

"Is it true that you attacked my brother?" Sinbad asked Bryn in disbelief.

"No," Bryn flashed back. "I did not attack Doubar or destroy Firouz's gift. I've never seen it before. Sinbad, you know it, don't you? I was with you the whole last night. I couldn't be here at all. There must be a misunderstanding or some sort."

"No, you weren't with me the whole time," Sinbad said as he recalled not seeing her for a moment. "I woke up in the middle of the night, and I didn't see you nearby. I thought you were getting some drinks, so I drifted back to sleep."

"No, Sinbad. It's not true. I slept through the whole night and didn't wake up until morning. Don't you remember Sinbad? We were together all the time." Bryn was begging Sinbad to believe her. She knew she didn't get out of bed at all, not even getting drinks. Everything happened between them last night stayed clear in her head, and she knew she wouldn't want to spend such wonderful night being away from her love, even if just for a short moment.

"Enough!" Doubar finally broke in. "You have lied to us once, and now you're lying to us again. Both Firouz and I weren't hallucinated to see you last night. How would you explain your necklace?"

"I don't know Doubar." She helplessly tried to defend herself. "I don't know why it's here. I don't even know how it'd got lost. And I've never lied to any of you either. Whatever it is, I'll keep my honesty to you all."

"Then how would you explain the kiss with Prince Salar back in Baghdad?" Firouz jumped in again. "We all witnessed it. Sinbad witnessed it. You were lost in the prince's arm and busy with your royal accomplishment."

Firouz's statement shot an electric shock through both Sinbad's and Bryn's nerve. They both looked at each other's eye and attempted to find the truth there. Sinbad hadn't asked for her explanation, yet he still wanted to get to the bottom of that incident. Bryn was getting extremely dazed to hear such harsh accusations from her family.

"I never kissed Salar. I don't know what you guys saw, but the truth is I wasn't with him at all."

"But you didn't return to the tavern that night." Maeve hesitantly pointed out the question that's been on each member's mind after that day.

"I was left with the prince's younger sister Sara that night. It was true that a maid of Salar's delivered his message of wanting to see me, but then the plan was changed. Another maid approached on the way to the fountain and told us that Princess Sara was attacked by a herd of wolves. She was on the way back from a long day playing the forest and suddenly got attacked. Her maid came to the palace for some help and that's how I got involved. I followed her to where the princess was while the other maid went to Salar to give the message. I stayed the whole night by the princess' side until the soldiers arrived the next morning. They said it was the town party the night before, so barely any soldier was on duty. After I returned the princess safely back to her palace, I rushed to the tavern to find you guys and pumped into an angry Sinbad. That was the whole story."

The entire crew once again looked at Bryn in disbelief. However, she didn't have the feeling that the problem was solved completely. Her friends' facial expressions showed her that they didn't believe a word coming from her mouth. Especially Sinbad, he now looked at her with disapproval and bitterness. He didn't believe her at all.

"Princess Sara died a year ago due to the city plague," announced Firouz. "That's why I was involved in the conversation with the local doctor to find out a cure for such disease, in case it comes back to Baghdad."

"No, it's not like that. I swear I was with Princess Sara that night. I can show you…"

"Enough Bryn! Enough!" Sinbad shot at her. "That's all I want to hear from you. You've changed, and none of us can recognize you anymore."

"No, Sinbad, I never change." Bryn's words were choking in her throat. "I'll never do anything harm to you or any of the crews. Please listen…"

Sinbad held up his hand to stop her. He didn't want to hear another word from Bryn. He totally made a fool of himself for always believing in her. Not only did she betray his love, she also betrayed the trust that's been established between her and the crew in the last five years. He wouldn't forgive anyone who caused harm to his family here on the Nomad, especially those who were close and beloved to him. Doubar was his brother, the only family member he was left with. Now it was clear that he was attacked by Bryn, the woman whom he sincerely and whole-heartedly trusted. She had already killed his heart the night he saw her kissing Salar. Now she heartlessly stabbed it again by harming his one and only brother. Sinbad's legs felt week beneath him, so he had to lean on the table for some balance. Disgusted by her lies, she was now no different than an alien to him whom he didn't know at all.

"Leave Bryn, you don't belong here. Leave before I rudely make you to." He said his final words without looking at her. "Leave and never come back. Pray that our path would never cross again, for I can't be sure what to be done to you if that day ever comes." He picked up her necklace falling from Firouz's hand earlier and tossed it at her. Turning hopelessly against her, he leaned in to pay a closer attention at his injured brother. From this movement on, the woman named Bryn died in Sinbad's world. He wished to never see her again.

Upon hearing Sinbad's final words, Bryn was having an overwhelmingly hard time trying to sort out his decision. He made it too obvious that he didn't want her to be here anymore. He was the one to take her aboard for his family, now he was the one to exclude her of it. She stumbled on the ground as tears of agony were terribly trailing from her darkest brown eyes. A painful contraction suddenly appeared in her stomach and drained her energy to stand up and leave. She felt like being killed from the inside where her heart was crushed desperately. Both the captain and Bryn have been inseparable, but now that theory couldn't be kept anymore. She didn't lie to them, nor did she ever intend to harm any of them. Sinbad must know the truth, but he refused to. His trust in her wasn't strong enough to make him reconsider his decision. In other words, their love was lacking the essential foundation of trust where nothing can turn them against each other. Could this love be so wrong? What could she do to fix it? However, she knew she had to leave. Sinbad's mind was set, and she couldn't do anything to change it. Moreover, none of the crew members wanted her to stay. So she was left with no choice but to get herself off the Nomad. Knowing so, she slowly rose on her feet, picked up her necklace, and made her way out. With Sinbad's words echoing in her mind, her soul was torn at the thought of not seeing the love of her life ever again. Her steps trembled as she was murmuring a sad song's lyrics she recalled from somewhere.

_May this hug we share be last,_

_and our kiss remained its past._

_Outcast the crush once was called._

_Wrong had it been overall. _

_For the former love road_

_shattered in halves._

_For no poetry _

_recited such forfeiture._

_Shall my yearning lust to see,_

_long for love be clear by ye._

_Hurt prophesied to be known,_

_ despair your love sure foreknow._

_So long no such flame will exist._

_So long till the crush to unite._

_May our binding be in the afterlife._

**[This poem is my work of translation from the chorus of the song "Sai - Wrong" by my favorite singer My Tam. All credits go to this amazing and talented singer/songwriter for her original production.]**


	5. Revenge of the Abandoned Soul

**Author's Note: Hello my readers! My apology for taking longer than expected for some updates. You probably wondered why I haven't posted new chapters yet. Well... This chapter was one of the hardest one to write. Believe me! So... To make up for you all this time, I decided to post two chapters at once. Check out chapter 6 when you're done with 5. Enjoy reading! Let me know what you think.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Adventures of Sinbad. The story I write here comes from my own imagination.**

Seven years passed since that distressful separation, and the Nomad still has been known as the ship of adventures. Its members seemed to regain their adventurous spirit to travel places, fight the dark, and help those who were in need.

Maeve was the first to have finally achieved the most desired goal of her life. The Nomad had encountered Rumina three years ago. Maeve took that greatest chance to defeat that wicked witch who had put the most terrible spell Dermott. Rumina could be seen painfully burned by Maeve's huge fireball in which she put all her strength and power. Before taking the last breath, Rumina angrily cursed at Maeve that her fate wouldn't be ended this easily. The dark-haired witch's ashes then were flying everything as Maeve fell on her knees, feeling exhausted more than ever. The final result would be perfect if Dermott weren't still in his falcon form. Everybody saw Rumina died, yet Dermott couldn't transform back into his human self. Nobody understood why, and Maeve insisted spending the rest of her life trying to solve this problem. She would never let her brother be in an animal's cover forever. Whatever challenge she had to go through, she promised Dermott that one day she would transform him into human again.

Firouz was next to find himself the happiest man alive. He and Velda got married not too long ago in Scroff. It was a warm and simple wedding where vows were made in front of God and friends who witnessed the newly wedded couple to spend the rest of their lives in love and commitment. Velda agreed to join Firouz on his adventures across the oceans, contributed her skills in helping the sick and inventing new things with her husband. Captain Sinbad couldn't find any reason to turn down a talented physician who was eager to settle on the Nomad. Even though he understood that Velda could be in danger anytime, he trusted that Firouz was willing to do anything to protect the love of his life from any possible threat. With that being said, Velda joined her husband Firouz and started getting herself adjusted to this new adventurous kind of life.

Rongar was also in his eager state. His kingdom was fairly ruled by his beloved sister who put her people's sake before anything. With strict regulations and laws, Zorah made sure that there would be no bandit, crime, or law-breakers to threaten the people's life. The last thing on earth she wanted to see was another incident similar to Ali Rashid to happen again in her peaceful kingdom. Therefore, Zorah was doing her best to bring peace to the entire territory. Marrying a young male named Kambin, Zorah and her husband ruled the city with justice and peace. Bollnah also became a safe and popular port to attract a lot of business from other regions of the world. The Nomad wasn't an exception. Sinbad knew that the city would be a great place for trades and sales to blossom which could benefit everyone of his crew. He also knew that Rongar wouldn't refuse any opportunity to visit home more often. That's why the captain decided to stop at Bollnah frequently between voyages, so that everyone would be benefited.

Doubar was also another joyful crew member who would just be content with wonderful moments from life. He was the one who's been spending the longest time at sea with the captain. Feeling responsible for watching over Sinbad at all time, Doubar told himself to never let his brother out of sight for any second. Whatever the situation was, during battles or of life events, Doubar always watched his brother's back and fully supported him with any strength he had. Even though he trusted that Sinbad was a mature man who could well take care of himself, Doubar still couldn't neglect his big brother's duties. Many past incidents, which mostly weren't known by another crew member, had previously happened in Sinbad's life and caused many great scars in the young captain's soul. Doubar couldn't stand seeing his brother suffer. Deep down inside his heart, Doubar knew that Sinbad wouldn't be at peace for the rest of his life, for he's been through the most terrible thing seven years ago. Despite Sinbad's effort to come back to life normally, Doubar was sure that Sinbad couldn't forget or deny the past at all. Therefore, Doubar's been doing all he could to keep Sinbad's mind off of the haunted past and helped his poor little brother to come into term with the present.

The well-known captain Sinbad of seven seas could be seen most content at his current state. He had the finest crew members who committed and dedicated themselves to every journey the ship took. Each member of the Nomad was his precious family member whom he wouldn't take for granted. Everything in his contemporary life was almost perfect that he would have thought he was the most abundantly blessed person in the world. However, there was one little area in his soul that could never be complete. It was about love – the most essential element of life. Sinbad had decided to seal his heart with the scar caused by that very woman to whom he once had undoubtedly given everything. Even though he never admitted it with anyone else, even his brother Doubar, they all noticed that their captain's heart has been frozen ever since that event. That's why every crew member tried their best to make their captain happy. Maeve was on top of the list. Still deeply in love with Sinbad, Maeve couldn't resist the thought of helping him to recover from the wounds and hurt caused in the past. She did what she could to draw Sinbad close to her, to get him open his heart to her, and to show him that she could make the best soul mate for the captain's life. However, her effort didn't seem to be repaid worthily. As much as Sinbad valued her effort, he couldn't force himself to fall in love with someone whom he only considered as one of the best friends. With other crew members, he showed his cheerful appreciation for helping to raise his spirit up. However, he and the rest of the crew knew that there was only one person to hold the key of healing Sinbad's wounded heart. That person could no longer be present in the Nomad's adventures, nor would her name be ever mentioned again.

It was a peaceful night when the captain of the Nomad decided to let the wind take his ship to wherever it pleased. Below deck, everyone except Sinbad was having a good time and enjoying dinner together. The handsome captain could be seen on deck at the tiller for his shift. He enjoyed the cool night breeze blowing by once in a while. The sea gods were so gracious to grant Sinbad some fresh air for his mind to relax. The sound of the wind flapping against the sails and the sense of the waves rocking the ship made it a usual picture for the captain. For Sinbad, it was a typical scene of a quiet sailing night that he was so used to. With all these years traveling across seven seas, Sinbad has been equipped with necessary skills and knowledge to make him a great captain. The sea has become the second home for him where he had his family, friends, comrades, and all that needed to make his life perfect. Any other captain could be easily jealous of Sinbad's life, for it was all filled with joy and framed as a complete picture. But, was his life really fulfilled as one saw? Deep down inside his heart, he knew it wasn't. Something was missing, and he knew what it was. As much as he tried not to think about that missing hole, peaceful scene like tonight seemed to go against his effort. The moon brightly shining in the sky guided the captain's thought to her. The twinkling stars reminded him of the sparkles in her eyes every time her gaze met his. Even though his mind was telling him not to think about her, his heart did the opposite. He hated it when the image of her came to occupy him in the night like this. He hated it when all those sweet memories kept haunting him. Most of all, he hated the fact that she wasn't here with him that made his life so miserable. He might not want to admit it with others, but he couldn't fool himself. He missed her. A lot! He wanted her back in his arms. He yearned for her presence, her embrace, and her companionship. She was his confidant, his best friend, and most of all, his other half. Seven years passed, and he must admit that he's been going through the most horrible time in his life.

*_Where are you now Bryn? Are you well? How has life been for you all these years?*_

He wondered…

*_Oh Bryn! How I miss you!_*

Without his love by his side, he knew his soul could never be whole. Sinbad couldn't help gripping the tiller tightly. With his eyes closed, his brows knitted at the thought of missing her. He felt hard to breathe for a second, since he couldn't feel peaceful at his decision of making her leave him. He hated himself now. He was dying from inside with regret filling his heart. Had he foreseen this reality was to come, he wouldn't have made her leave. For the thousandth time, his heart ached at the decision of cutting her off of his life. He shouldn't have been so judgmental towards her. He knew he shouldn't have made his decision in his angry state. Everything else could all be against her, but his love shouldn't. Now that his decision already excluded her from his life, he worried that she couldn't be fully protected. What if something went wrong to her? What if someone harmed her? What if she couldn't defend herself? He trusted her magic, but the problem was her inability to have a full control over it. What if someone used her magic against her? And he wasn't by her side, how could it be safe for her to go through everything alone?

*_It's all because of me. I should've listened to her. I should've given her a chance to explain. Everything is too late now._*

Looking up at the moon, he quietly sent out his prayer to whoever was listening. He prayed that Bryn was doing fine and that her life went back to normal already. He hoped that she finally found a place to settle down, and she would move on to a long journey ahead of her. Without him! He hated to look at that thought, but he couldn't deny the fact that she'd move forward without his company. Whenever this realization hit him, he wanted to just give up his current life and rush to her side right away. He wanted to see her, to apologize to her, and to let her know how awful life has been for him without her. He never knew how it was for her, but he knew he couldn't go on any longer when she wasn't with him.

*_Will you ever forgive me Bryn?_*

Sinbad bitterly asked. Could she hear him? What would her response be? He couldn't figure out the answers for all his questions. But there was one thing that his heart was most certain. The captain's soul could never be complete without her.

Too busily thinking about Bryn, Sinbad didn't notice a falling star flying across the black sky. It suddenly hit the Nomad right at its bow and shook the entire ship hard. Sinbad was thrown off the tiller for a second and landed on the wooden floor. He could hear his crew tumbling below deck and dishes falling out of place. Quickly picking himself up, Sinbad stood in a defending position after pulling his saber from its sheath. The rest of his crew ran up deck to see if their captain and the ship were okay. What they found waiting for them at the bow of the ship was an unexpected visitor. Coming out from the smoke of the falling star was the most unwanted guest that the Nomad never wanted to encounter – Scratch.

"Ah… My favorite crew! Long time no see!" The devilish creature greeted them in his husky voice. An evil aura could be easily seen surrounding him. Threat and danger were surely his partners every time he paid his visit to the Nomad.

Sinbad quickly handed the tiller to Doubar, signaling his big brother to take control of the ship while he dealt with their "visitor". The rest of the crew took out their weapons and carefully followed Sinbad as he walked up to Scratch. "What do you want Scratch?" The captain impatiently yelled at the monster from where he stood.

"Isn't it obvious that I'm here for you?" The monster replied in his crafty voice.

"If you mean your death, then we're ready!" Maeve snapped at his question with a fireball in her palm.

"Hush! Hush! No point to rush my charming Maeve. We haven't even had fun yet!"

"Get off our ship if you don't want to be exploded!"

"What's the matter Firouz? That's not how you welcome your guest. Aren't you glad seeing an old friend?"

"Knock it off Scratch! We don't want any relation with you. You've been warned! And I'm dead serious!"

"Very well captain! I see that I'm not wanted here. Now… I shall show you the purpose of my presence tonight!"

The monster waved at the captain and a giant mirror appeared in front of him. It flashed out a white beam that everyone had to cover their eyes for a moment. As the light faded, an image of a petite woman in a yellow dress appeared in the mirror. She was running through a dark forest where danger was evidently present. A hungry singled-eye titan was chasing after the woman, as if she was his target for this late hunting.

"OH NO! It can't be!" Sinbad fearfully spoke.

The woman was running as fast as she could, but the giant monster caught up with her quickly. She stumbled on the ground as a rock tripped her step. Pulling an arrow from her back, she aimed at the titan's eye and fired. The speedy arrow cut across the darkness and went straight to its destination. The titan let out a painful growl that quaked the trees and the ground. He angrily punched at the ground hoping to kill the attacker. His strong force created big cracks on the ground that the woman had to run for her life. She breathlessly tried to escape but unfortunately got knocked out by a big tree as it fell down. She laid there unconsciously as the titan picked up her scent and violently grabbed her in his hand. The image and the mirror disappeared just then.

"What were you doing with her? Let her go!" angrily screamed Sinbad.

The devilish creature let out a loud pleasing laughter at the captain's nervous state. "Oh poor the mighty captain! Isn't your heart crushed at the image of your beloved getting hurt?" The next thing he knew, Sinbad swiftly dashed to his side with the saber on his neck.

"Let her go! Or I swear this sword will cut through your throat!"

"What's wrong captain? I thought you hated her. Wasn't she the one who caused you pain in the past? Don't you want to see her life being threatened?"

"One longer minute will shorten your life. Let her go if you don't want your head to be rolling over my ship!"

"Alright alright Sinbad! You got me." Scratch's fingers snapped at the captain and the mirror appeared again. It now looked like an open door to another world. "You want her? Go rescue her on your own. Saving damsel in distress just like your very nature. Ohh! I forgot. This isn't any random beauty. The mighty captain must be extremely careful in saving the only love of his life. Am I right?"

Scratch's mocking voice could be clearly heard amongst the crew. Sinbad wasn't wasting any longer second to step in the door.

"No Sinbad! You must not listen to him! It's a trap!" His brother worriedly called up from the tiller.

"He's right Sinbad! Scratch is fooling you." Firouz stepped in the conversation. "Don't forget how he used Maeve's image last time to lure you to his bait! This isn't real."

The captain was taken a step back upon hearing his shipmates' reasoning. *_That's right! It's a trap. I must not be fooled again._* Without hesitation, Sinbad stabbed at the monster's heart. He furiously hissed at the captain's attack as his body was shattered in dust. The captain soon let out his relief at the thought of finally ending Scratch's life. The rest of the crew ran to Sinbad for their cheers.

"Don't be too happy just yet!" exclaimed a cruel voice from the air. "You think I'll be ended this easily? FOOL!"

The image of their enemy appeared floating in the air. Scratch wasn't killed yet. He was now standing in front of the Nomad with black deadly smoke surrounding his feet.

"Violence you want? So be it!"

At the end of his words, Scratch reached out his left hand to the sky as enraging thunder was shooting from his movement. The peaceful night view quickly was replaced as more and more black clouds were gathering. It started raining. No! Not simply raining! Scratch's power created a horrifying storm to attack the Nomad. Lightning thunders alternatively shot at the ship. Giant waves in turn were crashing against the ship, threatening to sink it in just a short moment. Merciless raindrops were patting on each sailor's face as they tried to secure the ship.

"Not all sailors! Not all!" Scratch excitedly warned.

The monster gathered the black smoke from his feet into his ugly palm and quickly shot it at the raging sea. Soon after, a giant squid emerged from the pitch black water in front of the crew's shocking eyes. Two of its messily sticky tentacles were continuously pouncing upon the tiny ship, while others were wrapping around the masts to wreck them. Everyone was tumbling across the ship. They couldn't even manage to keep their balance while facing the risk of a shipwreck.

"You might not have been born at the same time, but you shall die together here and now!" The hairy monster said with excitement in his tone.

"Doubar! Try to keep her still!" The captain shouted to his brother and everyone else. "I'll need Firouz and some others to secure the lines. Maeve and Rongar! Try to slow down this giant beast. See if I can take it down with some of Firouz's exploding invention."

"Aye aye captain!" said everyone.

"Useless!" Scratch spoke at the crew's effort. "The kraken can't be defeated. Don't you already know?"

"Wait until you have a roasted squid!" Sinbad shot back as he just climbed up the crow nest. He carried some boxes filled with exploding composite from Firouz and lit them on fire. Carefully aiming at the monster, Sinbad threw the firing boxes at it, hoping to blow up the giant sea monster.

Meanwhile, Rongar was throwing his daggers at the squid's eyes. Maeve's fireballs could be seen hitting at the creature's tentacles, so that it would release its grasp from the masts. Unfortunately, none of their attacks seemed to affect the monster. It still remained in its scary posture while more exploding boxes were thrown at it. None of Sinbad's boxes could even move the monster away from his ship.

"What did I just tell you Sinbad? The kraken can't be defeated." Scratch repeated his words at the captain. Quickly summoning more deadly smoke in his palm, he attacked Sinbad on the crow nest and knocked him off. His strike hit the captain hard as his body was falling from where he stood. Sinbad harshly landed on the wooden floor and injured his head. The scruff of his neck was scratched and warm blood started to come out. "Now… Prepared to die!" The hairy monster gathered the enraging thunder in his hand to form a poisonous bolt. Knowing that Sinbad wouldn't be able to dodge it in time, Scratch didn't hesitate to shoot at the wounded captain. The bolt left his hand and aimed straight at Sinbad, followed by the evil yet satisfying laughter of its maker.

"NOOOO!" The rest of the crew fearfully screamed at the scene in front of their eyes.

*_This is it!_* Sinbad told himself as the sight of the bolt was approaching near. He knew he wouldn't make it. Closing his eyes and preparing to meet his parents in the afterlife, the captain could feel a brightly shining light flashing in front of him. *_Heaven!_* He thought. But no! Instead of the pain from the attack, Sinbad felt a gentle hand placing on his shoulder. Another warm touch from the other hand alerted his senses when he felt its brush against his bleeding wound. This familiar presence… So long since he last felt it, but he couldn't mistake it with anything else. *_Could it be?_* He quietly asked as his eyes opened quickly. The captain was surprised to see a powerful barrier surrounding him and his ship. It shot out electrical lightning at the kraken. The monster was electrically shocked and had to release the ship from its wrap. Such strong attack pushed the monster far away from the Nomad. Badly bleeding, the squid retreated itself back to the bottom of the sea.

"Impossible! NOOOO!"

Sinbad could hear Scratch's angry scream as he dizzily sat up. The same tiny hands gently grabbed his arm and slowly helped him up. He looked up to where his help came from and immediately found himself speechless at the person kneeling next to him.

"Bryn!" Everyone said in unison.

Without caring about her surrounding, her words were directed at her captain. "Are you alright?"

"Bryn… I… How did you?"

"I suppose you're doing just fine then," said she. Her voice remained unchanged.

Sinbad was overjoyed to see Bryn again, especially when she came to rescue him again. It was typical of Bryn to show up in time of help. In the past, she never failed using her magic to rescue the whole crew. Knowing that the electrical barrier was a work of her magic, he was about to pull her in his arms for a yearning hug but suddenly pulled back by her behaviors. She didn't show any sight of happiness upon seeing him again. *_Strange!_* He thought. Bryn seemed very calmed, as if there was no danger around. He knew her life wasn't being threatened as how Scratch had showed him earlier. But something about her was odd. She still looked fine like the last time he saw her, but the way she gazed at him was different. He couldn't see anything in those brown eyes of hers. No concerns, no feelings, and especially no love. A certain sense of lifeless was all that he got from her. Bryn's face was covered by a cold-hearted expression that Sinbad had never seen before. It scared him.

"Bryn? Is it really you?" He finally managed to ask her.

Without answering his question, Bryn let go off his arm and quickly picked herself up. Walking to the bow of the ship, she summoned her magic into a strong wind and shot at the black clouds above. The wind from her right hand blew the clouds apart as her left hand reached forward to ease the storm. A couple minutes passed by and the quiet night scene came back to view in front of the crew's surprise.

"She came back for us. She's rescuing us again!" Doubar said in his shocking state.

"I never have a doubt, big brother."

"No! This can't be happening." Scratch angrily screamed.

"Enough for your play Scratch!" Bryn finally spoke in a cold tone. "Your part is done here. I'll take care of the rest." A heartless half grin was formed on her beautiful face as she finished her sentence. Turning back to face the crew that once was her family, her hand sent out a strong gust at each of them and knocked them off their feet. She then focused her magic on the ropes on deck and picked them up quickly. Under her control, these ropes found their ways to each member of the Nomad's crew and soon tied them altogether. Sinbad was the only member to be left alone.

"Bryn! What are you doing?" Sinbad confusingly asked her as she threw his crew against the mainmast. The ropes tightened around the crew as Bryn's open hand clenched into a fist. All of them felt like suffocating now. "Stop it Bryn! STOP!" She then let the crew freely fall from the mainmast and hit the ship eventually. Her ropes didn't let go off them though, but rather choked them even more. A painful expression could be seen on each of their sweating faces.

"Why should I, Sinbad? You're no longer my captain. Why do I need to follow your words?" Bryn asked mockingly.

"But you came back for us, didn't you? You came back to my side."

"What makes you think I'll ever come back? After every single one of you kicked me off this ship?"

"But… Bryn…"

"Say no more sailor! None of your words can change the situation now." Turning to face Scratch who seemed to be amused by her behavior, Bryn said. "I don't care if you're here to destroy the Nomad. Whatever your reason is, no one steps between me and these people. They shall die under my will." She demanded.

"Well… Well… Well… A precious member of the Nomad's crew is betraying them now. How interesting!"

"Used to be precious. Mind you!" She snapped at him. Without any further hesitation, Bryn waved her hand at the captain and attacked him with an invisible gust. Sinbad felt like he got slapped in the face and was violently pulled back from behind. He suddenly realized that Bryn was using her magic again, but instead of protecting him, she threw him against the mainmast. The captain of the ship was then lifted up as Bryn's hand rose upwards. She hung him in the air for a while without forgetting to send him the most hated look. Sinbad's heart was once again torn apart at the scene. The dearest woman of his life was cruelly attacking him and his crew for no reason. His eyes were filled with agony as his gaze met hers, but none of his reaction seemed to change her heartless actions. Bryn then released Sinbad from her invisible grasp which eventually gave him a free fall. For the second time of the night, Sinbad was knocked against the wooden floor.

"Bryn… But, why? I… don't understand." Sinbad asked her as he was having a hard time trying to sit up. The rest of the crew, who was still tied up in the ropes, followed the captain's gaze to stop at Bryn. They too couldn't get their fingers on Bryn's cruel attack. A second ago, they saw her coming back out of nowhere to protect Sinbad from Scratch's killing attempt. A second later, they witnessed her effort of wanting to kill them all. It wasn't the first time Bryn turned against them. But what was her purpose? If she wanted to kill them that badly, then why did she even rescue them in the first place? They couldn't reason it out.

"Why you asked?" Bryn answered in her coldly unchanged tone. "Isn't it too obvious to you that I want you all to die?"

"Then why did you even prevent Scratch from destroying us all?" Firouz yelled at her. "Aren't you wasting your time rescuing this crew?"

"I said NO ONE steps in between me and you guys. If your lives are coming to an end, it must be I who sends you all to hell!"

"That's why you came back to kill us?" Maeve spoke in her helpless form. "You didn't mean to stop Scratch at all?"

"If you mean killing for my revenge, then you're absolutely right sorceress. Don't tell me you were expecting me to jump in for help. After every single one of you rejected me, you still hope that you'll play my heroine part again? Oh how pathetic! Your dream isn't coming true now."

"Stop it Bryn! This isn't like you!" Sinbad denied. He slowly approached Bryn as one of his hands was reaching out for her, wanting to pull her back into his embrace. "Are you under control of this damned creature? Fight against it Bryn. I trust you my love. You can win. Don't let Scratch toy with your will. Listen to me and stop what you've been doing. This is all wrong."

"Wrong you said? Who are you to determine if my actions are right or wrong?"

"But…"

"Stop it Sinbad! Let me remind you now. You are the one who cut me off of your life seven years ago. What makes you believe that I'll listen to every word of yours? Trust you're speaking of? Don't even think of talking about trust to me." Her voice trembled as she talked. When she walked towards the captain, Sinbad could see a slight change on her face. Her eyes were filled with tears as her hand rose to stop at her chest. It looked like she was protecting her heart inside. "If you really trusted me like you said, you wouldn't have excluded me of your family. One single event convinced you that I was the traitor. And you didn't even take a second to sort it out. You passed judgment onto me."

"But there was evident to prove your betrayal. I couldn't do anything differently."

"Did you actually witness all those things to be done by me?"

Quiet…

"Exactly! Didn't I tell you I wasn't a traitor? Still, none of my effort made you believe me. You should've trusted me Sinbad, but you chose not to. Now… You shall see with your own eyes of what a traitor will be."

Her tears quickly dried up at the end of her sentence. Bryn stepped backward just to summon her magic again into another strong gust. It picked her up and raised her body in the air. She flew to stand by Scratch as fire was forming in her palm.

"I'm getting sick of you. All of you! Worthless creatures that put me through the hardest time of my life." Bryn harshly insulted the crew. "You abandoned me at my most desperate state. Especially you Sinbad! Where were you when I needed you the most? All these seven years, could you ever imagine how hard life has been treating me? Believe me dear! There'll be no word to describe the hopeless life that I've been through those years. I waited for you Sinbad, waited for you to come by my side, waited for you to get me back with this family of yours, waited for your presence to make my life whole again. And what did I get? Nothing! I've grown impatient as each day passed by without any sight of yours. Once I got too tired to hope for your love again, I made up my mind to make you all suffer and go through bitterness just like I did. Life isn't fair when someone has to be tortured while others happily enjoy their time. If I have to live with harshness, then so do you."

With her final words, her fire shot at the Nomad in front of everyone's speechless eyes. Sinbad stood frozen in his foot, not knowing what to do to stop Bryn. The rest of the crew stayed helplessly in their all-tied-up forms to witness Bryn's final attack against them all. Her fire hit the foremast and its sail, slowing burning them in the heat of her power. Next to her, Scratch was uncontrollably laughing at the incredibly amusing scene. He has come here with the purpose of taking down the whole ship with its members. Never would he expect to see Bryn here joining his ally. She had been known as a loyal member of Sinbad's crew. Her revenge surely surprised him. But it didn't matter now. She was still Turok's daughter after all. Perhaps her evil nature still existed in her. Such realization pleased Scratch so much. From the look on her face, he could tell that Bryn bore a great hatred against Sinbad and his damned crew. It surely explained why she was so into finishing them all off. Still watching Bryn's effort, he could see her picking up the entire ship from its bottom in her gust.

"Farewell!" She mercilessly spoke as she threw the whole ship in the air. A lightning barrier could be seen covering the Nomad as Bryn's hand was moving around the form of the tiny fading ship. Within seconds, it suddenly vanished when she closed her palm. There was no other trace of the Nomad to be seen. It surely disappeared with every member aboard.

"Impressive!" Scratch happily complimented on Bryn's achievement. "I must admit that you inherited powerful magic from your father."

"Indeed," Bryn said in her unchanged tone again. She then offered Scratch her hand. "Now is the time for celebration. Shall we?"

The ugly hairy creature satisfyingly laughed again at her suggestion. His breath was of the deadly and evil smell that Bryn thought she couldn't stand him any longer. He quickly took a hold of her tiny hand as he joined her in celebration. But there was something in her palm that immediately shocked him. As soon as Bryn got Scratch's hand in hers, she held onto it tightly and intended not to let go off her grasp. The monster could sense a change in her plan, but it was too late for him to withdraw himself. A pure white lightning rope quickly surrounded both of them from the bottom. It tied them together as Scratch hissed at Bryn's attachment. His evil body was slowly burning under Bryn's binding.

"This is what you get for toying with them." Bryn whispered as both of them were fading in the air.

"NOOOO! You witch! You will pay for this!"

"We shall see." Bryn said her final words with a beautiful smile on her face. She closed her tiring eyes and inhaled the last breath of fresh air from the sea. She knew that her part was done from now. The future was now depending on gods. With her remaining effort, she sent out her last prayer to the dearest man of her heart. *_Take care captain._*

And with that, Bryn and Scratch disappeared together. The entire sea was calm under the moonlight. The stars still twinkled all over the dark sky. It looked like none of those previous scenes ever took place. And another new day soon followed.


	6. A Ghost from His Haunting Past

**Author's Note: Happy belated Thanksgiving everyone! May you have a wonderful time with your family and loved ones. Thank you again for keeping up with this story. As promised, I'm giving you another chapter. This is my most amusing one. I had fun describing the dynamic between the Nomad's crew and their strangers. Hopefully you'll like chapter 6 six here. **

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Adventures of Sinbad. The story I write here comes from my own imagination.**

"Okay… Everybody stand back!"

"Are you sure it's going to work this time Maeve?

"You've got to trust me Firouz. I've been doing this for the ten thousandth time, and I don't expect it to be wrong again."

With that high determination, Maeve concentrated her power in a huge fireball to shoot at the horizon line. The Celtic sorceress was trying to create a crack and set her entire crew free. The encounter with Scratch and Bryn many years ago had transferred them to this unknown world. They'd been trapped here for the longest time ever, as if it was a prison to keep the Nomad's sailors from reaching the real world. Maeve had grown tired of being imprisoned for the second time in her life, so she was determined to break out again with all her effort. The rest of the crew members took cover, for she had warned them of a big quake to come as they were transferred back to the real world. A white brightening light flashed in the sky which almost blinded everyone. The next thing they remembered was their ship was shaken hard and darkness soon followed.

"Are you alright?" asked a young man when he approached a female figure lying on the beach.

The petite woman was half conscious and trying to look up to where the voice came from. She couldn't open her eyes and quickly drifted to her unconsciousness. The guy sat down to take a closer look at her then decided to take care of her by bringing her home until she recovered. He wasn't bothered by the fact that she was a stranger to him, for he didn't want to leave a wounded woman behind without anyone to look after her. When she awoke, she could be free to leave.

A week later, at a local tavern…

"Well?" Firouz asked his shipmates. Worry filled his voice.

Doubar gave him a sorry look and sighed, "We couldn't find her, as if she was nowhere to be seen."

"Don't be discouraged Firouz," Sinbad responded with a firm squeeze on the scientist's shoulder. "We'll be staying here until we find Velda. No matter how long this takes, we won't leave her behind."

Nodding his head in understanding, Firouz sent his friends a non-verbal thankful look. Ever since they escaped from that horrible universe, the Nomad's crew landed here on this island where they found each other here and there. It was as if they each fell off the ship and were all over the place. Thankfully, not everyone was badly injured, except for Velda. It's been a week and there was no sign of her. Firouz terribly got worried not seeing his wife for this long. Most of all, her was concerned with her state of being, for he didn't know how she was doing. *_What if somebody found and hurt her? That'd be terrible.*_ Firouz thought to himself. He then felt a pat on his shoulder and looked up to see Rongar giving him an assurance.

"You're right," he replied to the Moor. "There's no time for worries. We all need to be positive and believe that she'll be safely back with us soon."

"And that's the spirit we've been missing," Maeve commented on the scientist's change. "We'll find her soon."

"Tomorrow, Maeve, Firouz and Dermott will search for Velda. The rest of the crew and I will finish the final repairs for our ship. We're making progress. The damages from many years ago need to be fixed up soon if we wish to travel again. By the time Velda is back with us, we all can be ready for our journey. Are we all good?"

Everybody nodded their heads at the captain's words. They were still in the middle of their conversation when a good looking man approached their table. "Hello everybody." He greeted the Nomad's crew with a careful examination. "I'm Borna, the owner of this place. Welcome to the Tavern of Brisa. You all must be foreigners?"

Sinbad kindly replied the young man, "Indeed, we are. I'm Sinbad, captain of the Nomad. And this is my crew." He then introduced each member's name to Borna.

The owner shook everybody's hand, and stopped at Maeve's. He held onto it a bit longer and looked at the sorceress more carefully than the others. His eyes were filled with concern, but none of the guys saw it. The only message they received from his action was him checking out on Maeve. But they knew he wouldn't be able to make it, for he looked so much younger than their lady. Borna finally released her hand with a friendly smile and took a final double-look all over the crew, as if he was looking for someone amongst them. He felt a bit hopeless before returning to Sinbad.

"Captain, I suppose you don't remember me." He cleared his throat before continuing. "But we did know each other before." Reading the surprise in the crew's eyes, he went on. "A while back, you once stayed here at this tavern to avoid a storm. I still remember you leaving the next day with these two members of yours." He said while gesturing towards Maeve and Rongar.

Sinbad was having a hard time digging his memories. He couldn't remember seeing this young man before. *_A storm?_* He whispered to himself.

"To add in to your memories," Borna said, "I was a little boy back then. This place was run by my grandpa. I also remember a petite lady in a yellow dress who also spent a night here with you."

Borna's last statement got the entire crew's, especially Sinbad's, attention, for none of them could ever forget that one specific "petite lady in a yellow dress".

*_Right! The storm, the tavern, and…_* The captain then had to swallow his breath before answering Borna, trying not to touch the matter about the lady mentioned.

"It's been a while, Borna. And I apologize for my lack of memories. You look well, all grown up than what I could recall." Sinbad decided to shift the conversation to talking more about Borna instead.

"It truly has been a while. I'm in my mid-twenties here, so I suppose you haven't been back for so long."

"You're right. We've been occupied, hum… unexpectedly" was Sinbad's answer which caused the crew to sigh in frustration.

*_We had been stuck in that universe for that long?_* was the question on top of everyone's mind now.

"So where's that petite lady? I've been looking forward to seeing her again." Borna asked excitingly.

"She's no longer with us." Doubar bitterly replied, making Borna miss the disappointment that flashed on Sinbad's face.

"Why not?" Borna was very surprised by the first mate's answer.

"Long story," Maeve replied. "But she's not traveling with us anymore."

Borna quickly expressed his shocking disappointment. He then quickly changed their topic. Suddenly, a woman entered the tavern in the middle of their conversation. Her presence quickly got the crew's attention and resulted in Borna's excuse to return to his duties. He seemed to leave the Nomad's crew for a more urgent matter.

"Velda! Thank goodness you're finally back." Firouz exclaimed as his wife ran into his embrace. She looked well, as if there was nothing wrong with her.

"Are you alright?" Maeve worriedly asked.

Firouz quickly turned her around to see if she was injured anywhere. She chuckled at his concerning attitudes and quickly assured him. "I'm all good, very well to be exact."

"We were all worried about you." Sinbad said.

"I didn't know how long I've been away. How's everybody?" She replied as she nestled into Firouz's protective embrace. She missed her husband so much that she only thought of stealing him away from everybody. She'd like to have to spend some privacy with him, but she had to get over with a more important matter first.

"Good as you can see." Doubar replied. "We've been looking for you everywhere. Where have you been?"

Doubar's question pointed out the crew's concern, but it was actually giving Velda a hard time to answer. She seemed to be deeply thinking about her past few days away from the crew. She didn't know how to voice her answer in the most acceptable way, for she knew her words could be quite unbelievable to all of them.

She finally started, "Well, I don't know how long I've been out, but I knew for sure somebody took me in for care. I awoke yesterday to find myself being safe in a house near the beach. It was this young man named Wiley who rescued me. He seems nice, that's for sure. But his female companion isn't so friendly."

"Did she hurt you?" Firouz worriedly asked.

"No, not at all. In fact, it was the other way around." Velda defended this person. "She healed me actually. I don't know how she did it, but Wiley said she did so. And I trust him, because I didn't see any odd of him you know. After they made sure that I'm all well again, they let me go without asking for any favor in return."

"That's quite strange," Maeve responded. "But what do you mean she isn't so friendly?"

"Well, she never spoke a word to me," Velda said in confusion. "She is a nice looking young lady, about her teenage years I'd say. But she always seems to be so distant. I could tell she's pretty close to Wiley, but she keeps herself away from me all the time. It's like she doesn't like strangers."

"A woman of mystery you mean?" Doubar curiously asked.

"I guess you could say so. It's not like I've got some kind of creepy feeling about her or anything. It's just that she never lets anyone except Wiley get close to her. It makes me wonder why she even healed me in the first place."

"Do you know her name or remember where she lives? After all, we owe her a thankful word." Her husband asked, for he wanted to show at least some appreciation to this lady who healed his wife.

"I do. I'm certain that she's called Salyn, but…" she hesitated. "Wiley," Velda continued, "made it clear that this girl doesn't want to be exposed to foreigners, or sailors to be more accurate. She won't like to see us coming to her, even if we mean no harm." Looking carefully at the rest of the guys who were concentrating on her words, she knew she had to tell them. "There's one last thing I must say to you all. I know it must be incredibly unbelievable, but I need you guys to trust me and listen carefully."

Everyone's eyes were on Velda. She glanced at them in her anxious state, and then finally stopped at the captain, "This girl named Salyn, hmm… She looks exactly like Bryn, just a lot younger."

Velda's last statement surely struck Sinbad hard. Never would he expect to hear of the name of this woman again for the rest of his life. Their last encounter with her many years ago was enough to make him not ever want to see her again. Velda's announcement of seeing her surely irritated the captain. *_What is she doing here? Like a haunting ghost or something? Would she ever leave me alone? Wasn't her revenge with Scratch many years ago enough?_* All these questions freely floated in Sinbad's mind. He let out an angry sigh at the thought of being related to Bryn for whatsoever reason. Obviously, she wouldn't leave him alone for too long.

Everybody else seemed to share the same level of shock upon hearing about Bryn. Could it be her after all these years? They all wondered. Moreover, why would she be involved in anyone who shared some sort of relation, even if the slightest, to Sinbad? Their last encounter with her ten years ago obviously demonstrated her deepest hatred against the Nomad's crew. And now Velda was telling them that Bryn actually healed Velda's wounds. Could it be possible to believe Velda's words? But they all knew that Velda would never lie to them about such important thing. It was just so confusing to all of them to find the answer now. Suddenly, Rongar tapped on Firouz's shoulders to gesture him to look at the entrance. The rest of the crew quickly followed the Moor's instruction and found the scene in front of their eyes to be unbelievable. Their eyes were widened in shock to see a young beauty entering the tavern followed by a nice looking young man. They could easily be seen at their teenage years and very close to each other. The guy had his golden-blonde hair all tied up in a short pony tail behind his head. His costume was similar to Tetsu's which made him look like a skillfully-trained warrior. Of course he wore a sword on his left hip to even confirm his appearance. His female companion was undoubtedly attractive. She was dressed in an ivory silk knee-lengthened dress and ankle boots. Her medium-ash-brown hair was wavy and freely loosened on her back. She braided two small strands of her hair and wrapped them around her forehead to make her delicate feminine even stand out more. Most of all, she possessed the most charming smile that could melt any guy's heart. Just like her male friend, she wore a sword on her hip in case she needed to defend herself. Surely, this was a couple of well-trained warriors. They found two open seats at the bar and quickly made their ways there. Being deeply involved in their conversation, they were both oblivious of those watching eyes from the Nomad's crew. Everyone found it hard to take their eyes off of the couple, especially the girl. She looked unbelievably exact like Bryn, their former crew member, just a lot younger than her. How could there be another counterpart of Bryn in this world? At first, they all thought Velda was losing her mind to talk about a girl who looked so much like Bryn. Now they knew she wasn't crazy. This girl here in the tavern was like an exact copy of Bryn.

"They are Wiley and Salyn." Velda quietly informed the crew who probably drifted to their deep thoughts upon seeing Salyn.

The crew looked at Velda for her words, and then turned their gaze back at the couple.

"So what you told us is true." Sinbad finally let his words out.

"It is, captain," Velda replied.

"Let's all leave this place as quick as possible. Velda is back, and we don't want to miss another tide." The captain quickly picked himself up and made known of his intention to leave the tavern. Everybody understood it was the captain's order, so they followed suit.

Sinbad was the first to exit, followed by his brother, Maeve, Rongar, Firouz, and Velda. They didn't make it out too far when a group of people dressed in black masks and costumes attacked them. These people came out of nowhere unexpectedly, and were into hurting Sinbad's crew.

"Can't we just leave in peace?" Maeve impatiently asked as she reached for her sword.

"I don't think so." Doubar loudly replied as he in turned was fighting back three muscular men who jumped onto him.

Firouz quickly took his wife back inside the tavern for her safety. He then immediately went out to support his shipmates. Loudly clanging sounds could be heard as the result of the swordsmanship outside. Customers inside the tavern were so frightened that they didn't know what to do or where to run to. Velda, following her instinct, instructed them to hide under the tables and stay still for their safety. She was about to take cover for herself under the bar right before seeing two shadows swiftly dashing outside. She could recognize it was Wiley and Salyn.

There were more of those dressed-in-black people to come into the fight. It seemed like an imbalance fight which Sinbad's side was more likely to lose. Each member couldn't be watching over their shipmate's back at the moment, for they were all busy defending themselves. Maeve quickly summoned her magic into a strong wind to blow away these strangers. However, her effort seemed to worsen the situation, since it got these attackers even angrier and more aggressive to fight. On the roof of the tavern, there was a well-hidden attacker who was carefully aiming his arrow at the Celtic sorceress. He didn't hesitate to shoot it at her. His attempt missed the target though, for Wiley appeared right in time to push Maeve away from the arrow. It only passed through her arm and caused her to bleed. Wiley quickly helped her up and took her inside the tavern.

"Stay here!" He seriously warned. "And don't move if you don't want your wound to open too big."

Without waiting for her reply, he turned to go outside again. Salyn was busy fighting these mysterious people without noticing another person who just got wounded as well. It was Sinbad who had got an arrow into his upper abdomen. It was probably by the same person who had shot at Maeve earlier. By the time Salyn saw his injury, Sinbad was badly bleeding and tiredly withdrawing himself to a safer spot. He didn't notice another attacker right behind him who was ready to end the captain's life.

"No!" Salyn screamed angrily at the scene and flashed out two white beams from her eyes to defeat that attacker. He was seriously stricken and fell down right away. What just happened in front of Sinbad's eyes immediately got his mind to his very first encounter with Bryn on the Cayman's island, for she had once rescued him the same way. His heart ached at the memories.

Meanwhile, the rest of his crew members were getting tired of the fight when countless of these attackers kept showing up. Both Wiley and Salyn were fighting by the crew' sides at the moment and grew annoyed by these strangers.

"If you're thinking what I'm thinking," Wiley spoke to Salyn who was fighting back-to-back with him. "These guys are driving me crazy. Who could be their master to train them so horribly?" He just cut through a guy's heart.

Slightly laughing at his comment, Salyn replied. "It seems like nobody can ever get up to your skills Prince Wiley." She in turned just stabbed hard in another guy's chest.

"Well… There's only one person who can be my official opponent, if you haven't already known, my lovely Salyn."

"Let's just forget about flattery for a second, shall we?" Salyn quickly turned to Wiley's words. She hated being addressed by these loving words because they made her feel like a kid.

"Okay… Right behind you!" Wiley anxiously warned Salyn of her attacker who just got behind her. She then leaned down to dodge Wiley's hit which aimed at the bad guy.

"I owe you for that." She told him thankfully as she stood up again. "Now… Ready to end this silly thing?" She gave out her hand to him.

"Your wish is my command." He looked at her sweating face and gently took her hand in his. They were standing side by side now and their hands both reached forward. An invisible strong gust was formed in their palms and quickly expanded its way to the attackers. Not being ready to dodge such strong power, each of these bad guys was violently blown up in the air and harshly landed on the ground, which caused them immediate death. Surprisingly, the gust only aimed at these attackers. The Nomad's crew, who was found standing not too far from these bad guys, was safely secured on their spots without worrying about being blown away. Salyn's eyes once again flashed out brightly shining white beams as she ended the battle. She let out a joyful sigh at Wiley who was now happily looking at her.

"We make a perfect team, I must say." Salyn grinned at her best friend.

"We do, as a matter of fact. Now princess, I must advise you of two injured people. They need your help."

"I know. I know…" She rolled her eyes at his expression. "And for the last time Wiley, stop calling me by those words."

"Can't help it Salyn." He smiled at her uncomfortable form. He could hear her grumble as she made her way to the wounded captain.

When they both walked to Sinbad, Firouz was already taking a look at his captain. Doubar and Rongar were standing around and accidentally blocked Wiley's and Salyn's view. Salyn froze a little bit upon witnessing Sinbad being injured. By the look on his face, she could tell he was enduring a great amount of pain, but still managed to show his courage by sending everyone an I-am-okay look. She wondered if such courage only existed in certain people. Still watching the scientist examining the captain, Salyn didn't want to interrupt the process. Actually, she was wondering if she should follow what was on her mind, for her heart ached at seeing anyone getting injured, and she'd want to ease the pain away for them. Knowing what she was thinking about, Wiley put his hand on her back to assure confusion mixing in her heart now. She then looked at him and found the answers in his eyes. He wanted her to go for it, and she knew she wanted to do so as well.

"I suggest that you bring him inside," Wiley told the sailors. "I believe another member of yours is unfortunately wounded too."

Doubar, Firouz, and Rongar looked at their rescuers, and quickly followed Wiley's advice without hesitating. They carefully lifted Sinbad up and slowly moved him back into the tavern. They were trying to be as careful as possible, for they didn't want Sinbad's wound to get worse. Wiley and Salyn followed. Inside, Velda was paying her full attention on Maeve's arm. It was bleeding so badly that her white sleeve was now soaked in red blood. The Celtic was strong enough to hold back her pain, but her facial expressions betrayed her effort. The guys quickly placed Sinbad next to Maeve, and moved out of the way so both Firouz and Velda could have better looks on the wounds.

"The cuts are deep," Velda frighteningly said. "We must do something to close them, or else they'll lose much more blood."

Her husband replied, "I lost my medical bag. None of my surgery tools are anywhere to be found. It doesn't help in this situation. We need to see if the tavern has anything for us to make use of."

Velda made her way to the tavern kitchen to see if anything could be helpful. Doubar and Rongar were still worried about Sinbad and Maeve, while Firouz was trying his best to tender their wounds and stop the blood from coming out. None of these people was paying attention to their two strangers' presence, which pleased Salyn. She didn't want anyone to interrupt her thought when she was examining someone else. At this moment, Salyn was carefully observing the two wounded figures lying in front of her. Her attention was drawn more on the man whose wound seemed to be a lot worse. He was sweating hard, and his lips already turned pale and dry. His eyes were heavily close despite his effort of staying awake. She nervously held onto Wiley's hand to seek comfort, for she couldn't stand seeing this very man to suffer. If she wasn't trying to be strong, she was sure she would fall down crying at this scene. Quickly covering her true emotions, she turned to Wiley to give him the signal he was waiting for.

"If you want them to be fine again," the young warrior told the guys. "Step aside!" His voice was filled with strong determination which hardly anyone could resist.

The entire crew looked at Wiley's expression with surprise and confusion. Maeve was conscious enough to know who was speaking. Upon hearing the stranger's voice, Sinbad forced his eyes to open as well.

"What do you want to do with them?" Doubar asked worriedly, displaying his and other members' concerns.

Salyn stepped up and gave Doubar, Rongar, and Firouz a challenging look. She didn't say a word, and her face was masked with a cold-hearted expression. It looked like she was portraying a message to these male sailors. *_Stay out of this!_* Her eyes demanded. Doubar didn't feel safe trusting this girl, so he almost stepped up to pull her away from his brother and Maeve. However, Wiley grabbed the big man's arm in time to stop him, indicating that Salyn's order must be followed through. Doubar sighed in frustration and stayed back to see what was going to happen. If she dared to hurt his brother, he'd surely talk violence to her.

Kneeling down besides Maeve, Salyn put her right hand on the sorceress's wound. There was a warm source of light coming out from the young lady's palm and flowed into Maeve's wound. She could feel that the cut was closing, and her arm was starting to stop bleeding. Seconds later, Maeve's wound was completely healed in front of her shocking eyes. During the whole time, Salyn didn't look at Maeve, nor did she speak a word to the sorceress. She looked like she only paid attention to healing the wound without even caring how the patient felt. Now Maeve understood why Velda said this Salyn wasn't so friendly.

Turning her gaze to Sinbad, her heart skipped a beat at his exhausting figure. She gently shook the captain to wake him. Still not saying anything, she was attempting to get his attention without letting him hear her voice. Sinbad slowly opened his eyes and was surprised to see Salyn in front of him.

"Bryn?" He quietly murmured. His voice was filled with anger and agony. His wound seemed to affect him more badly than Salyn thought. The captain's eyes failed to stay open now.

Salyn could hear his voice and shook her head at his question. Her heart shattered into pieces upon hearing this woman's name. The young warrior felt weak in her heart for a second, since she hadn't felt anyone calling someone else's name this way. However, she quickly put up a wall around her wounded heart to hide her feelings from being discovered. Behind her, Wiley was carefully studying her every moment and reading her thought.

*_You can do it Salyn. Stay strong_.* Wiley sent out his encouragement to her.

Salyn, after receiving her friend's words, felt more confident. She again stroke Sinbad to wake him. This time, she intended to get him fully awake. Her effort was paid off eventually, for Sinbad finally regained his consciousness to look at her attentively. With this close distance, Sinbad could have a better look at the young lady.

"What… are you… doing… to me?" His words trembled at her touch on his wounded tummy.

She didn't answer. Carefully looking at his injury, she then placed her hand on the arrow sticking on Sinbad's abdomen. Salyn bit her lower lip before quickly pulling the arrow out of his body. It caused his warm blood to immediately splash on her dress. The captain let out a loud scream that he's been holding back for too long. Salyn knew it was coming, so she quickly secured Sinbad's body, signaling him to stay still. Putting her hand on his open wound, she could feel her palm getting wet, for his warm blood was flowing on her sensitive tiny hand. The young witch once again focused her power to let out another warm light to close the wound. Sinbad, just like Maeve, could feel that the big open wound was closing as more of Salyn's light was flowing inside his body. Moreover, he started to feel stronger and regained his senses. Now that Sinbad was fully aware of what was going on, he looked at Salyn more closely and noticed that she wore a simple necklace made out of seashells. It looked like a hand-made piece of jewelry, for any of these seashells could be easily found scattering along the beach. There was no other sign of jewelries on her body.

*_She's not wearing the rainbow bracelet?_*

Of course, Salyn was sensitive enough to catch Sinbad's inner thought. She looked up at him and slightly shook her head again. Her eyes were full of excitement at his surprise.

*_She could hear me?*_

His second question received a playful half grin from the young lady, as if she was challenging him to believe that she had the ability to read people's mind. He was now even more surprised to see Salyn looking at him this way.

*_This is not Bryn. She never treats me this way._*

And for the first time, Salyn nodded her head at Sinbad's thought. His eyes widely opened in shock at Salyn's body language. He could tell she was quietly letting him know she wasn't the woman on top of his mind at this moment. She then leaned closer to his face, which startled him for a bit. It looked like she was checking to see if Sinbad was fully recovered, but he knew it wasn't her intention. Without taking his eyes off of her, he finally realized the most distinctive difference in this girl comparing to Bryn. Salyn had one of the most beautiful pairs of sea-blued eyes which were the closest resemblance to Sinbad's. Bryn didn't have blue eyes, and Sinbad was sure of that.

*_There is no way in this world this girl is Bryn_.* His brows knitted at this certain conclusion.

Upon reading his final excellent realization, Salyn let a full satisfying smile form on her face. She slowly stood up and stepped backward to turn to Wiley who's been patiently waiting for her. The rest of the crew could now have a clearer view at their captain and their female sailor. They quickly made their ways closer to their shipmates and checked out their wounds. Surely, Salyn had just performed a miracle on both Sinbad and Maeve. None of these sailors could ever forget this event. However, the guys were so busy looking at Sinbad and Maeve that they didn't see the two young warriors leaving. By the time Sinbad looked around to find the young girl, she was already gone.

"Happy?" Wiley asked Salyn as they were making their ways home.

"You could say… I've seen what I wanted." She contently replied.

"This is just the beginning Salyn." He continued, but this time grew more worried at what was coming to his best friend in her near future.

Grabbing his hand in hers, she tightened the grip and finally spoke with all her strength. "I can handle it all, because I don't want to fail her."

She smiled joyfully as her eyes were filled with sunshine. Together, the two best friends walked home and were ready to face their next chapters approaching soon.


	7. To Break a Mother's Heart - Part One

**Author's Note: It's time for some update. Welcome to my world of imagination! The reading portion below was my original writing. But it wasn't complete yet. So I decided to add in couple more details, and I ended up with a part with similar length. Call me crazy if you want haha, but I can't stop myself from writing long chapters. That's why I decided to break this chapter into two halves. This is part one of chapter seven, and part two is uploaded at the same time. You may have the same feeling that I'm giving you another two chapters. Well... Let's just say it's my apology for taking longer than expected again. So enjoy reading!  
**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Adventures of Sinbad. The story I write here comes from my own imagination.**

xxx Flash back xxx

In another part of the world…

"Salyn! OH Salyn! Where are you my dear?"

"Over here aunty Mina!"

"Good gods in heaven. What are you doing little one? You've been out for too long and got us worried."

"I got lost in the game with Wiley." The little girl spoke as her eyes guided her aunt to look to her left.

"And who is this charming prince?" asked the dark haired lady.

"My name is Wiley." The little boy replied with a beautiful smile on his energetic face.

"I'm Salyn's aunt. You can call me aunty Mina."

"Nice to meet you aunty Mina."

"Nice to meet you too sweetie."

Turning to face the playful sweetheart named Salyn, her aunt started, "My precious little treasure, do you know it's past your curfew?"

"I'm sorry aunty Mina," replied Salyn, feeling a little guilty. "I was going to look for seashells, and happened to find Wiley doing the same thing. So we decided to look together, and whoever finds more seashells will be the winner." Salyn said with the most delightful tone in her voice. She sounded so cute that her aunt almost forgot to give her a little warning for going over her curfew.

"And why is this game taking my dear this long?"

"I'd like to have the prettiest seashells to make mommy a necklace." Salyn joyfully replied.

Her aunt was taken a step back to see such happiness in Salyn's eyes when she mentioned her mother. She then softly replied, "It sounds like a good reason my dear, but you still need to keep track of the time. We need to get back home before your mommy goes look for you."

Salyn nodded her head in understanding. She knew she would have to stop her seashell-quest here today and followed her aunt home. Turning to Wiley, she happily said, "Will you meet me here tomorrow? We're not done with our game yet."

"Agree! See you tomorrow Salyn. Goodbye aunty Mina." The little boy said his quick goodbye and turned to leave.

"See ya Wiley." Salyn called out to her friend's back. She then looked to her aunt who reached out a hand to take her home. They started walking further into the island. On the way home, Salyn didn't stop talking. She was telling her aunt how good her day was, what she did, and so on. "Could you please keep this secret aunty Mina?" The little girl pleaded, looking up at her aunt. "About this necklace I'm making for mommy, it's a little surprise." Salyn lowered her voice and held up a finger on her lips, grinning playfully at her aunt when she mentioned her little secret.

Her aunt couldn't deny such cute little request. Gently smoothened Salyn's hair, she replied, "Alright sweetie. This secret is only between us."

"Promise?" Salyn said with her tiny pinky rising up to her aunt.

"Promise." Her aunt softly replied with her pinky hooking to Salyn's. They continued to walk home with Salyn singing non-stop along the way.

Salyn and her aunt got home right after her mother had just finished cooking dinner. The little girl got her aunt's help to quickly wash herself before eating. As soon as her mother set out the table, Hakim, another member of the family returned home from work to find dinner was ready. He joined his family in a delightful meal where laughter and happiness filled the atmosphere. Salyn was like a little twittering nightingale who kept on telling everyone about her about her joyful day, what she did, and how she came across Wiley and befriended him. Of course, she didn't reveal anything about finding the seashells to make a little gift for her mother. Watching her daughter being in her happiest age, Salyn's mother couldn't help feeling so thankful to gods for letting Salyn come to her life. This sweet little treasure was the greatest blessing that she had ever deserved. Whatever life threw at her, she swore she'd never let her Salyn out of her sight, nor would she ever let anyone take her daughter away from her. By carefully noticing Salyn's mother, her aunt didn't miss a clue of what her sister was thinking. She knew she needed to have a serious talk to her sister about that very important topic floating on her sister's mind at this moment. The sooner the sisters got over with this long-delayed conversation, the better Salyn's mother would be.

After finishing dinner, Hakim took Salyn out for a walk where he could tell her numerous stories about legendary heroes protecting mankind and the world from evils. Salyn always found it fascinating to listen to those stories and imagined her becoming a brave heroine one day to defend the weak. With her adventurous spirit and great sense of justice, Hakim knew Salyn would one day make her dream come true. More importantly, she was prophesied to be a great warrior just like her parents. Since the day she was born, Salyn was chosen to be the peace maker for this world. Even though she was just a little girl now, Hakim and her aunt knew that Salyn would have to take up her duties once she grew up to be a mature lady. As time went by, both Hakim and Salyn's aunt did their best to train her to become a warrior, for her future was approaching with the most important mission – to fight the devils by uniting her parents whose fates were linked together before time. As much as Salyn's mother opposed such nonsense idea, she herself couldn't deny the fact that Salyn was desperately needed for bringing peace to the world. She also deserved to know about her parents as well as her own origin and an explanation of what roles she played in bringing peace to this world. Salyn's mother knew better than anybody that this future would foreshadow nothing but danger and even sorrow to Salyn. She never wanted her daughter to deal with any sort of danger or hurtful events which she had gone through during her youth. She never thought her little girl would be ready. All she wanted was to raise Salyn as best as she could, and two of them would be living a peaceful life along with her sister and Hakim. However, her wish couldn't be granted, for she knew Salyn would have to come to term with her fate soon.

Tonight was the time of fatal revelation.

"She's something, isn't she?" Salyn's aunt asked as her sister was tucking the little girl under the blanket. The look on her face was so adorable and innocent that neither woman wanted to leave her for the night.

"She's everything definitely," replied the mother after giving warm and gentle kiss on her forehead. She looked at her daughter with the sweetest smile on her face at the thought of how precious Salyn was to her. The girl looked like she was having a wonderful dream of growing up as a beautiful lady. There was surely no doubt of such dream. *_This special girl of mine deserves to become the most gorgeous princess ever, not any type of warrior._* She quietly sighed to herself as she made her way out of Salyn's room, her aunt followed from behind. Both of them went to the living room to spend time fixing some old clothes of Salyn. This little girl was too stubborn sometimes to not listen to her mother. She was one of the most playful girls and it didn't keep her away too long from ruining her clothes. Torn, ripped, scratched, and all that kind of damages were easily noticeable. As much as Salyn's mother wanted to lecture her about being careful with her clothes, she couldn't hide a wide grin on her face at the thought of how much Salyn was like her years ago. That realization didn't pass her sister at all.

"She's an exact version of you, just a lot younger," started Salyn's aunt.

Both of them chuckled to recall their memories when they were little. Salyn's mother couldn't disagree with her sister at all. "I can see now how you and parents were driven crazy."

Her conclusion quickly led to a louder laughter from both sisters. The older had to stop herself before choking. "What a wildcat you were, full of adventurous spirit if you can recall. Salyn will grow up just like that. Just like you." She paused a little bit. Carefully studied her sister's reaction, she continued, "Just like her dad as well."

As she had predicted, her sister's joyful eyes immediately were filled with sadness and heart-break every time the thought of Salyn's father hit her. She slowly looked down to the wooden floor as if to hide a hurtful tear that appeared quickly in her eyes. Without saying anything, she was telling her sister to stop mentioning her broken love. Her sister still continued anyway.

"You have to tell her the truth Bryn. She's growing every day, and you can't keep her away from that already expected encounter in the future."

"Tell what truth? You want me to tell her that her dad walked out on us, and her aunt was the cause? I don't think I can even handle it myself Mina." Bryn was losing her control whenever her sister Rumina brought up this topic.

"I admit I was a fool to separate you from Sinbad. It was all rooted from my jealousy of you two. And I deserved to be punished, which happened when that Celtic wench killed me. But I never thought I would have been rescued and brought back to life to unite with you two. The Guardians truly bless our family to grant me a second chance to make up for my mistakes. I never knew how much I'd grow to love Salyn this much. It reminds me of our childhood memories. We were so connected back then, and I was completely stupid to let the dark art trade of our sisterhood with jealousy. Living here with you and Salyn teaches me what a true family means, something I had forgot since mother died. And I want to make every moment right."

"I understand. And you're doing so by letting go of the past and embracing the future. Salyn has the greatest aunt ever and please don't take this wonderful person away from her."

"She deserves to know the truth, to know who I used to be, and to know who her father is. You can't have her live on without questioning about him. Would you live on with a lie that he had passed away? What would her reactions be once she found out it's not like what you told her?"

"Please Mina, please stop doing this!" Bryn was starting to cry as the thought of telling Salyn about Sinbad. She couldn't handle a second to face that man again, nor would she ever intend to let him know about Salyn's existence. "The last thing on earth I'd ever wish for," continued Bryn, "is to let Sinbad know about Salyn. He'll take her away from me, and I can't live without my daughter."

"No, Bryn. It won't happen." Rumina drew closer to Bryn's side to pull her into a hug. Her younger sister was sobbing as their conversation about Sinbad went on. No matter how much Rumina wanted to correct her mistakes in the past by trying to unite Sinbad and Bryn, she couldn't stand seeing her sister suffer at the thought of being with Sinbad again. Yes, she had once wanted to separate Sinbad and Bryn, and she had made it. But now she regretted, for she realized how much her sister loved this sailor, and how deeply the scar of broken love had been carved in her sister's heart. Bryn was seriously broken on the day she stepped off of the Nomad, away from her only family, and away from Sinbad. Even though it was because of Rumina that Sinbad and Bryn had resulted in indescribably huge misunderstanding, Sinbad's lack of trust in Bryn had caused the worst wound ever in her soul. It made her believe that Sinbad would never trust her again to let her keep their only child. That thought badly scared Bryn that Sinbad would take Salyn away from her mother once he found out about the little girl's existence. Bryn would rather die to see that day coming. No matter what she had to do, no one could ever split Salyn away from her mother's embrace. Quickly brushing Bryn's hair out of her sweating forehead, Rumina said, "I'll make sure that Sinbad will never touch Salyn, nor will any of his damned crew members take her away from us. But you still need to tell her about him. You had grown up without knowing what a true family to be with both parents, what a girl's childhood would be like without her father's attention. I know deep down inside your heart, you will never let that same incident happen to your daughter."

Bryn was calming down as her sister still kept on talking. It was true that she never wanted her child to grow up without a father's love. Her childhood wasn't fully blessed when her mother passed away. Her father, not long after, turned evil and lost his love for her once he found out she wouldn't give herself in for the dark art. Such wounded memories made Bryn promise to give her children, especially daughters, a complete family picture with both parents in it. Rumina was right about letting Salyn know about Sinbad. But what would happen next? Bryn never wanted to know the answer for that question. She couldn't handle seeing the disappointment in her Salyn's innocent eyes once she found out how her parents had broken up and how her aunt's been responsible for that separation.

Turning Bryn to face her, Rumina went on. "Even if she knows I was the cause," Rumina said as if she sensed what Bryn was thinking, "that will never change the fact that I love her. And even if she wants to make me pay for what I'd done, I'll be happily and willingly let her carry out justice and pass judgment on me. She's been chosen to be in charge of keeping the justice scales balance. That gives her no excuse to have mercy on someone with terrible sins, even if that is a family member."

"But Mina," Bryn responded with a pleading look, "that decision will do nothing but to tear her soul apart. How can we help her face that reality? I don't want to see my little girl going through any sort of harshness. There must be a way."

"There is a way, and no one can make it happen except you, my dearest Bryn."

Both Rumina and Bryn looked up to see Hakim walking in the living room. The look on his face told them that he's been quietly listening to their conversation. Both witches looked at Salyn's guardian with hopeful eyes, seeking answers from his great wisdom and knowledge.

"Rumina has the chance to make up for her mistakes without having Salyn to carry out justice on her," was Hakim's reply that got both the sisters' attention.

These two women were overjoyed to receive the news. However, their happiness didn't remain too long once they both noticed the concern in Hakim's eyes. Their intuition told them that he wasn't done with his announcement yet, and the rest of his words could be seen unbelievable to take in. With that thought, Bryn and Rumina held on to their breath and patiently signaled Hakim to continue.

He finally broke off the silence by revealing the unexpected news. "The Higher Ones have decided to let Rumina spend her next ten years to raise Salyn. During that time, she must faithfully remain both roles of a mother and a teacher in raising and training Salyn to become the greatest warrior. By the time Salyn reaches her sixteenth year, she'll be ready for her mission. Of course, all Rumina's hard work will receive full support from the Higher Ones. Anything she asks for, within their consideration, will be fully granted."

*_What a great news!_* Both sisters thought after Hakim finished. But something in this news struck a big question in their heads, so Rumina decided to bring it up without wasting any longer second.

"You mentioned the role of a mother and a teacher," she said. Her voice was filled with mixed emotions and confusion. "What about Bryn? She's the real and only mother of Salyn's."

Bryn nervously looked at Hakim for his clarification. He returned her look with the sadness in his eyes then took both hers and Rumina's hand to lead them outside to the garden. It was a beautiful view outside. The moon was high in the sky with countless stars hovering across the dark background. Cool night winds were blowing three people's hair backward. The ocean waves constantly came in and out the shore, making the most familiar sound to Bryn. She was recalling her memories when she used to be a valuable member of the Nomad. Sinbad's face quickly appeared on her mind as her glances stopped at the brightly shining moon. His smile, his look, his touch, his body, his everything has been haunting Bryn in the past seven years. As much as she wanted to erase his image in her heart, beautiful night view like tonight seemed to be against her effort. The moon seemed to be brighter than usual which guided Bryn's thought to Salyn. Her daughter was conceived in a past night when the moon was similarly bright. That was why she had decided to call her child Salyn. It meant the moon goodness which had granted a chance for both Sinbad and Bryn to have spent a night together, to have resulted in the most incredible pregnancy, and to have let the little girl come into Bryn's life when everything else had turned against her. Deeply thinking about her daughter, Bryn tightened her grip on Hakim's hand as he instructed her and Rumina to look at the moon. The white bright moon suddenly turned red after Hakim waved his hand at it. Then, the moon became a crystal clear mirror to reveal the darkest plan of the most devilish creature – Scratch. Both Rumina and Bryn gasped in horror to see their evil enemy attacking the Nomad in the middle of the angry sea. A storm was created to make the entire scene more dramatic and amusingly entertained to its maker. A huge squid could be seen using its tentacles to violently and constantly pounce upon the poor ship where its first mate was struggling to hold on tight to the tiller. The ship scientist and other crewmen were helplessly securing the lines on deck. Not too far from them, their Celtic sorceress was trying to concentrate her power in a fireball to shoot at the sea creature. At the same time, the royal prince on board was having a equally hard time to help his captain defeat the monster. He was standing on deck and trying to aim his daggers correctly at the creature' eyes as the rain was mercilessly slapping at his tiring face. Bryn's heart ached desperately at the scene, feeling painful to see her beloved people suffering in Scratch's game. Her legs felt weak that she almost fell down if Hakim and Rumina didn't catch her in time, for in front of her was the vivid image of the love of her life – Sinbad. Her captain just climbed up the crow nest to have a better aim at the sea monster. He had carried with him some boxes filled with Firouz's exploding composite, hoping to throw right at the monster to blow it up. Constantly making his attempts, Sinbad seemed to be getting more exhausted when none of his throw hit its target. The entire ship was facing the risk of being wrecked in the middle of the ocean without any help from gods. The crew men would eventually end up dying which wasn't what Bryn ever expected to witness. She then quickly turned to Hakim for help.

"You must help them Hakim! Anything you can, please act quickly, or else they all will die." She continued pleading even if her begging didn't seem to shake the guardian's determination. "Take me to the Higher Ones. I can convince them to help Sinbad and his crew. We can't just stand here to watch them die Hakim. We must do something, anything. Please Hakim… I'm begging you."

"Calm down my child! This isn't taking place at the moment yet. The Higher Ones have informed me of this incident, and it'll be happening tomorrow night. Keep your hopes Bryn!"

His clarification didn't seem to sooth Bryn's fear all at. Tonight or tomorrow night, Sinbad and his crew still couldn't avoid the encounter with Scratch. Once that devil got to them, who knew what on earth he would do torture them, which he considered as "having fun". With that thought, Bryn's tears were uncontrollably pouring from her painful eyes. Rumina had to tighten her embrace around her sister's shoulders once she realized how weak Bryn has gotten at the announcement. The older sister then had to rush Hakim for an answer that could help the Nomad from being toyed by Scratch. Anything Hakim had to suggest, Rumina believed Bryn would follow.

Grabbing Bryn's hands in his, Hakim spoke with the most unemotional tone. "You're the only hope for Sinbad now Bryn." He knew his answer would give both Rumina and Bryn the most surprising look on their faces, and he had predicted such reaction. He then continued, "This isn't simply a game by Scratch, but rather another powerful dark power."

Rumina and Bryn paused for a second before feeling terrified at their realization. They both asked in unison, "Hades?" which received a slow but confirming nod from Hakim.

The guardian went on. "Everything that had happened thousands years ago must be resolved in this life. Hades' been waiting long enough to win the battle he had left off for too long. Scratch is just being his tool to win over Sinbad. Don't you both forget that the lord of the dark has a great interest in one certain sailor who holds the key to defeat another powerful god."

"But isn't Poseidon going to act or anything?" Rumina voiced her thought, which she believed was on Bryn's mind at this moment as well.

"He chooses not to. If Sinbad's soul falls into Hades' hands, it's all because he got it on himself. Poseidon would rather be sacrificing Sinbad than betraying his own vow as a mighty king."

His announcement certainly shocked both witches. Never had they imagined that declaration to come. Upon taking the news, Bryn knew no one else could help Sinbad except her. She was the only person with the strongest power to protect Sinbad. Looking attentively at Hakim, she was asking for Hakim's answer of how she could rescue Sinbad and his crew. Hakim quickly returned her look without any longer hesitation.

"You must keep Scratch away from Sinbad as long as possible. Without Scratch's direct access, Hades will have a hard time to keep his plan on track. I'm very sorry to inform you that you may end up having to keep Scratch occupied for at least ten years. During that time, you also need to make sure that Sinbad too has to be away from the devil's reach. In other words, Sinbad and the dark power have to be kept away from each other in ten years. However, the Higher Ones knows you can't remain longer than that, so they had agreed on sending you another powerful ally in the battle of fighting the evils. You and Sinbad, along with this person, are the only three capable of defeating the devils once and for all, for you three hold the strongest connection amongst others regardless anything." Hakim finished his sentence with a more hopeful look in his eyes.

Bryn understood that look, even though she never expected to be able to understand the underlying meaning of this message. Bryn seemed to be asking the final question to confirm her thought. However, her voice certainly showed Hakim and Rumina that she already knew the answer without even having to ask. "The third person you have just mentioned is Salyn?"

"Indeed, it truly is Salyn. Not only are you three capable of defeating the devils, the deepest connection between you also is strong enough to break the curse that's been placed on you and Sinbad in the past thousands years. You all can finally be united as a complete family."

"And to have that complete union, you are saying that I have to sacrifice the next ten years being with from my daughter? Just to keep that evil hairy creature away from Sinbad? What else on earth can make that great sense huh – choosing between my daughter and her own father?" She sounded like mocking the news she had just received.

Hakim sadly replied at Bryn's reaction, feeling empathy for Bryn's fear of being away from Salyn. "There's no other way Bryn. You're his only hope. If you refuse to help, his life will be at stake. Sinbad is the very first target in Hades' plan to destroy the world. Once he has Sinbad's soul, he'll definitely be able to use it against his own brother Poseidon. They will then…"

Bryn was too angry to listen to any other word coming from Hakim. She interrupted his sentence to present her own thought. "That's their business. It has nothing to do with me or Salyn. Why can't we be living a peaceful life together without any intrusion? That sailor, I'm telling you, has no right to ask for my protection by making me leave my one and only child in this world."

She then quickly turned back on Hakim and Rumina to go to inside, not bothering to see the reactions on their faces. Both the guardian and the dark-haired witch were surprised at Bryn's ignorance on Sinbad's safety, the very one man whom she loved as much as Salyn. Hakim was about to follow Bryn inside and persuaded her, but Rumina stopped him.

"Leave her alone for a moment." She defended her younger sister. "She's making her most important decision now." Both of them exchanged knowing look, then Rumina continued. "Bryn won't let any of us down, for she knows her family's fate better than any of us."

Hakim had to agree with Rumina, for he didn't know what else to do besides waiting for Bryn to make up her mind. As much as he wished for Bryn to make a rational decision, his heart ached at the thought of watching Bryn being separated from her own daughter. Hakim's been the guardian for both Bryn and Salyn for too long to realize that Bryn's heart would again be torn apart by choosing to leave her one and only child. Bryn was always known as the strongest child Hakim had ever watched over, he still wasn't sure how she could handle this harsh decision. He never wanted his dearest child Bryn to suffer from anything, for her smile was a precious treasure that High Ones had decided to grant Hakim to be her guardian. He's been watching her grow up with happiness and sorrow life threw at her. Even at her most terrible moment of being abandoned by Sinbad, she still managed to show her strength and bravery of to fight against any negative social treatment at an unmarried pregnant woman. Thankfully, the Higher Ones finally decided for Hakim to reveal himself as a guardian to Bryn. He came to her in a hopeful morning on the island called Brisa to take her to this unknown island where she could peacefully raise her child. He could never forget the happiness mixed with discouragement on her delicate face after he unfolded everything from her past that she couldn't recall and revealed her fatal destiny in the future. He knew Bryn would be strong enough to handle everything, especially after she gave birth to Salyn. This little adorable baby girl was like a complete source of courage and strength for Bryn to recover from the scars caused by Salyn's father. The more Salyn grew up, the more Bryn became satisfied for being able to raise a child without another man's help. Of course Hakim still walked with both of them on every step they took, but the main responsibility of raising a kid still fell on Bryn's shoulders. She was a mature woman to handle anything, and Hakim would be there for her in case she needed advice or guidance. Not so long after Salyn was born, Hakim doubled Bryn's happiness by bringing her the long lost sister Rumina whom he had rescued from the battle with Maeve. The Higher Ones had also agreed with Hakim that Rumina would play an important part in influencing Salyn's life, so they gathered her ashes and soul together to heal her. After a while, Rumina recovered and felt regretful to have separated her sister and Sinbad. She was overjoyed upon hearing the announcement that she was allowed to live with Bryn for the rest of her life and made up for her mistakes. Moreover, Hakim told her that Bryn was forgetting Sinbad in her life when she raised Salyn. Another person to push up the effort would be great, especially if that person was from Bryn's family. He also told Rumina that he knew Bryn would be merciful and generous enough to forgive Rumina for cruelly having created a huge misunderstanding between Bryn and Sinbad. Just like what Hakim had predicted, Bryn welcomed Rumina without any discomfort or hatred regarding her sister's mistake. The two sisters united with the joy of raising a little kid together. Salyn didn't take so long to get used to her newly found aunt, and Bryn was so pleased to see her daughter getting attached to her own sister. Bryn's life could be seen as perfect without the existence of the fatal destiny which she had to face very soon. Hakim had already informed Rumina of what the future expected of her sister. The both prayed together for Bryn to gain the needed strength and courage to come into terms with her future. It would be very hard, of course, but both Hakim and Rumina had no choice but to hope for Bryn to make the wisest decision that could affect the whole world around her.


	8. To Break a Mother's Heart - Part Two

**Author's Note: Part Two of Chapter Seven**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Adventures of Sinbad. The story I write here comes from my own imagination.**

Back in Salyn's room, the little girl was having a good night sleep. There was a small smile on her angelic face. She looked like she was dreaming of playing on a green grass hill where flowers and birds could be found. Chasing after the butterflies or picking flowers were her most favorite things, and surely Salyn wouldn't stop herself from bringing them into her dreams. Sudden, a soft hand brushed against her tiny forehead and the little girl unwillingly open her sleepy eyes.

"Mommy?"

"Shhh… It's me!"

"Is it morning already?" She rubbed her tiring eyes.

"Not yet!" Bryn replied as she slowly got in the bed with her daughter. "Go back to sleep dear. It's still at night." Feeling a little cold, Bryn gently pulled the little girl in her embrace and planted a tender kiss on her forehead. She wanted to make sure that her daughter was sleeping through the whole night in her protection.

"Mm hmm." Salyn said as she nuzzled into Bryn's arms, seeking warmth and comfort from her mother. She quickly drifted back to sleep and dreamed about her play time on the hill. The last thing she could remember was her mother's sweet voice mumbling her favorite lullaby.

The night slowly passed by. Salyn was now deeply asleep, but her mother was still wide awake. For Bryn, tonight was a sleepless night – the last night that she got to spend with her daughter. Tomorrow, she would be back to Sinbad's side to ruin the plan Scratch had on him. Even though she told Hakim and Rumina that she would never leave her daughter, deep down inside her heart, she knew she had to go. Leaving Salyn behind was the hardest choice that she had to make. Still, there was no other way. Like Hakim said, Bryn was the only hope for Sinbad. She was the witch with the strongest power combined from the good and the bad, the light and the dark. No one else was powerful enough to fight against Scratch. Maeve still didn't master her power yet, while Master Dim-Dim was nowhere to be found. That left Bryn to be the only choice. Even the Higher Ones wanted to send her to aid Sinbad. If Bryn refused to help Sinbad, his soul would fall into the devil's hand, and Hades' plan would be done half way. The world then would fall into chaos, and countless people's lives would be in danger. Those people, of course, included Bryn's beloved ones such as her sister Rumina and her daughter Salyn. Never would Bryn want to put her family at risk. *_I have to go!_* She unwillingly told herself. *_Salyn still has Rumina and Hakim by her side to protect her, but Sinbad doesn't. If I don't do anything, I know I'll spend the rest of my life in regret._ _What a bitter choice to make!_* Looking down at the small sleeping figure in her arms, Bryn couldn't stop her tears of sorrow to freely roll down her cheeks. The dark-haired witch knew she had to be absent from her daughter's life in the next ten years. For the second time in her life, Bryn was to be separated from her beloved people and couldn't do anything about it. She was forced to leave Sinbad seven years ago, but she managed to get over that deepest wound when Salyn came to her side. Now that she had no choice to but to leave her dearest daughter, only gods knew how she could make it this time. Tightening her embrace about Salyn, Bryn let out a hurtful sigh and drifted to her sleep.

The next morning came on the island in a joyful scene. Salyn seemed to be the happiest girl on earth. The little girl woke up to see her mother next to her and knew that it got her the nicest sleep ever. Moreover, she was surprised to know that her mother would take her to the woods nearby today. It was Hakim who usually took her there to get herbs. The guardian wanted to teach Salyn about all kinds of herbs and their function, so that Salyn could learn about them and how to make remedies. When necessary, she could apply her skills to find cure for the sick. Once in a while, her aunt Rumina would come along to see how much progress Salyn made. Bryn rarely did though, so it was a big surprise for the little girl that her mother was going with her today. She really wanted to show her mother how much she had learned, and she knew her knowledge would please her mother so much. And with that eagerness, the little girl hurriedly got through her breakfast so that she could leave as soon as possible.

"You two have fun," Rumina called out to Bryn and Salyn as her little niece was running to the direction of the woods.

"We will," loudly replied the girl.

"We'll be back for lunch." Bryn told her sister before taking off to follow Salyn. She soon found herself speeding up to catch up with her daughter. This girl was so excited that she didn't even pay attention to the road. She could be tripping over a rock anytime if she wasn't careful enough. Bryn shook her head at the running form of her daughter and quickly called out. "Watch your steps Salyn! You don't want to fall and rip another dress."

Salyn didn't turn back at her mother's words, and Bryn knew that Salyn wasn't listening. Two of them kept their speed and not long after found their ways to the woods. Salyn took her mother's hand and lead the way inside the forest. It was a familiar path that Salyn took every day, so she wasn't having any hard time to look for the herbs. Every time they walked by one, Salyn would stop her mother and explained everything about that particular herb. She sounded so enthusiastic and energetic when it came to explanation. Her non-stop talking reminded Bryn of Firouz. The physician would be willing to spend time talking non-stop about the medical field that he knew so well. Both Firouz and Salyn didn't hesitate to give further explanation when needed. The only difference was Firouz would go on and on and on, while Salyn stopped here and there to make sure that her listener was following her words. Bryn couldn't help chuckling at Salyn's form throughout her speech. She didn't want to interrupt her daughter, so she had to wait until Salyn was done talking.

"Your knowledge is getting richer and richer every day dear. I'm impressed."

"Thanks mommy. Do you like it?"

"Of course I do. What else can make mommy happier than thinking about my Salyn becoming a physician someday?"

Bryn's question got Salyn to pause a little bit. She thought for a moment, then replied to her mother in her childish voice. "Salyn don't want to be a physician."

"Why not dear? I thought you liked herbs and remedies." Bryn was surprised upon hearing Salyn's proclamation. She quickly followed her daughter as Salyn made her way out of the forest.

"Salyn like them," Salyn said happily while heading to the direction to go home. "But Salyn still don't want to be a physician." She said shaking her head.

"Then what is it that you'd like to be someday?"

"Salyn don't know yet mommy. Hmm… Maybe a cook." She turned back at her mother with a sunshine smile. The little girl ran to her mother and swiftly jumped up. Bryn got the signal and scooped her daughter into her strong arms. She carried Salyn and brought the girl's face close to hers.

"A cook? And why is that my dear?" She asked as Salyn was playing with her hair.

"Salyn want to be like mommy. Mommy makes the best vegetable soup ever, and Salyn wish to know how to make it too."

"Oh yea? Mommy can always teach you." Bryn said while not forgetting to slightly pinch her daughter's nose.

"REALLY? You promise?"

"Mommy promise to teach Salyn how to cook the best vegetable soup when Salyn grows up a little bigger." said the mother while hooking her pinky finger to her awaiting daughter's.

"Hooray! Mommy is the best!" said the little girl with the sweetest kiss on her mother's face. She then jumped down from her mother's arms and took Bryn's hand in hers. Together, they walked out of the woods with happiness filled in the air.

On the way home, Bryn and Salyn passed by a green grass hill where all kinds of flowers could be found.

"That's right!" Salyn suddenly told her mother. "Salyn want to be a florist."

"And why is it my dear?"

"Because mommy likes flowers. Mommy looks happy with flowers, and Salyn will make people happy by giving them flowers."

Salyn let go off her mother's hand and ran to the direction of the sunflowers which were her mother's most favorite. She carefully picked out the prettiest and freshest ones. Without noticing her mother from behind, Salyn took her time to put the flowers in a bundle. Of course, she had no idea how terribly sad her mother was seeing her in this joyful state. Again, Bryn's tears were freely falling from her eyes at the sight of her innocent child. By the time Salyn came back to her side, it was too late for Bryn to wipe off her tears.

Walking back to her mother, Salyn loudly said. "These are for-" but she didn't get to finish her sentence. A sense of fear and confusion could be seen on the little girl's face when she saw her mother cried. It was the first time ever that Bryn couldn't hold back her tears in front of her daughter. "What's wrong mommy? You don't like Salyn's flowers?" She asked worriedly as her tiny hands were reaching up to wipe off Bryn's tears. Unknowingly, she dropped her flowers to her side. Bryn quickly leaned down to pull the little girl into her arms for a hug. She didn't want to let go off the tiny form of her daughter's. She could feel Salyn's trembling hands on her back. "Mommy don't cry please! Salyn don't want mommy to cry. Was Salyn bad?" The little girl started crying and choking on her words when her mother didn't seem to stop crying at all. She was afraid that she got her mother upset. "Salyn promise to not rip another dress again. Salyn will be good. Salyn sorry mommy."

"No Salyn! No my dear! You're not bad. Salyn is a very good child. Mommy love Salyn a lot." Bryn replied as she released her daughter. She felt so bad for scaring the little girl. Looking at her wet face, Bryn gently wiped off Salyn's tears and assured her daughter with a big smile on her face. "I'm sorry for scaring you dear. It's nothing. Mommy is good. Mommy won't cry again. And you too dear. Don't you cry again all right? Salyn won't be pretty if there are tears on her face."

Still not completely believing her mother's words yet, the little girl asked again. "Was it because mommy didn't like these flowers? Mommy doesn't want Salyn to be a florist? Salyn will be a physician for mommy yea?" She said innocently while looking at her mother's wet eyes, hoping to please her mother.

"No! It's not like that Salyn! Mommy loves your flowers. They're pretty and smell really nice. Be a florist if you want. And a cook too. Mommy doesn't want Salyn to be a physician. You can be anything you like my dear."

"Are you sure I can be anything I like?"

"Absolutely."

"Then will you take these flowers?" asked the girl as she picked up her flowers.

"Of course I will. Thank you dear! I'm sure aunty Mina will find us a nice vase to put them in." Bryn said after giving her daughter a sweet kiss on her cheek.

"She will," replied the little one with a big grin on her face. She took Bryn's hand again so they could walk home together.

The day passed by quickly, and Bryn now didn't have much time left with Salyn. The little girl, after dinner, said she wanted to be alone in her room for a while and only Rumina knew why. The older dark-haired witch knew that her niece already won the sea-shell quest against Wiley today, and she wanted to start right away on making the necklace for her mother. *_If only she could finish it in time before Bryn leaves. I doubt it though._* Rumina sighed inside while listening to the conversation between her sister and Hakim. Three of them were sitting around the table and carefully discussing their strategy. Bryn already made up her mind that she'd come back to Sinbad's side, so Hakim was explaining to her what to do when he sent her back to the Nomad.

"Scratch is a malicious creature. There's no doubt he'll be well-prepared for the encounter tonight. By all means, it's very difficult to ruin his plan directly."

Both Rumina and Bryn were carefully following each and every word from the wise guardian.

"So you're saying that he already thought of a plan in case Sinbad gets help?" Rumina asked.

"Exactly! He may not know whoever it is to come for Sinbad. But he surely knows how to defeat that ally when his side is supported with Hades' power."

"And that makes it harder to attack him or to ruin his plan," was Bryn's thought.

"But that doesn't mean you can't do it Bryn. You have to think of a way to distract Scratch, so that he won't be able to fight back."

"But how? I don't know his weakness. How can I distract him?"

"She's right Hakim. Bryn only encountered Scratch once, and it's not enough to think of a good plan now. Time is something we don't have on our side, so we have to think of something else."

"Don't you both forget this one strategy – The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

"What is that supposed to mean in this case?" Both sisters asked in confusion.

"Here's the thing. Scratch knows that Bryn used to be crew member on the Nomad. If she comes back to be on their side, he won't hesitate to finish her off along with other members. However, if she comes back to be on HIS side, he'll look at her as his ally and easily be distracted from his plan of destroying the entire crew."

"To be on Scratch's side? Are you saying that I have to be against Sinbad's?"

"It's sadly true my dear. If you don't make him believe that you're evil, there's no way he's going to let you win over Sinbad's crew. Instead of letting him kill your precious people, why don't you pretend that they are your enemies? Once Scratch sees that you're really into killing them, he'll eventually let you finish them off. And by pretending, you can send the Nomad to a safe place where Sinbad is out of the devil's reach."

"But turning evil isn't something Bryn can do that easily Hakim. Don't you think it's too much for her? And how can Scratch is convinced that my sister is no longer a good person?"

"Mina… I… I think I can do it. Scratch once said something about my pedigree. I believe that he knows I'm Turok's daughter. It'll make sense to him if I turn evil."

"Alright then. So how do you suppose he'll let you finish off the Nomad? He knows you used to be a member on that ship. He won't fall for your trap that easily Bryn." Turning to face Hakim, Rumina continued. "This mission is too much for my sister to handle. Let me go instead. At least I don't have a daughter to look after. Bryn is different. Salyn can't be left behind in ten years without her mother."

"No Mina! You can't do that! Your magic hasn't completely recovered from your battle against Maeve yet. I mastered mine in the last seven years. You know I can do it. And Salyn has you and Hakim to look after. Sinbad doesn't have anyone to help him now. I must go Mina. I already made up my mind."

"But you can't force yourself to turn against Sinbad. He's the one you love the most. How can your heart betray your love?"

Her sister's question surely hit Bryn hard. The younger sister was now having a hard time to breathe upon the idea of turning against Sinbad. Rumina was right. Bryn was still deeply in love with Sinbad even though bad things had happened between them. No matter how much she tried, Bryn could never see herself wanting to betray Sinbad. *_Wait! That's right! Traitor!_* Such thought was like a light bulb suddenly lit in her mind.

"I can make Scratch believe that I truly turn evil by betraying Sinbad. Incidents in the past made the crew believe that I was a traitor, and they made me leave the ship. If I come back for revenge, then that's perfect. Scratch won't even waste a second to doubt my evilness if I clearly show my hatred against the crew."

"Good gods in heaven! What are you thinking Bryn?" Rumina couldn't believe what Bryn just said. Her sister was planning to use the past against her. This couldn't be happening. "Those past incidents are stupid. I'm responsible for them, and you are not a traitor. You can't use it against yourself."

Sighing hopelessly, Bryn replied. "Unfortunately Mina, the Nomad crew doesn't think this way. For them, I'm a traitor. And that's the only legitimate reason to make Scratch believe my revenge. If pretending to be a traitor can rescue Sinbad and his crew, I'm willing to go for it." Bryn finished her sentence with a sad smile on her face. It made Rumina believe that her sister already made up her mind, and no one could stop her from fulfilling it.

"Oh Bryn! What have I done to you?" Rumina asked in tears as she pulled her younger sister into a hug. "I'm so sorry Bryn. It's all my fault."

Gently patting Rumina's back, Bryn whispered in her sister's ears. "The past can't be undone Mina. Let it go. You know I already forgive you, so don't let yourself be stuck forever. Instead, I'll need you to look after Salyn when I'm gone. She really needs you. Besides you and Hakim, I don't know anyone else to turn to when it comes to my daughter's safety."

"You have my words Bryn. I'll do my best to raise your little girl. Once she grows up, we'll send her out for you."

"I trust you sister."

Both sisters released each other's form. They both looked so sad as the separation was about to come. Still, they knew it'd be the best option for now. Turning to face Hakim who has been quietly listening to their conversation, Rumina and Bryn signaled him to finish his plan for the younger witch. He understood the women's gesture and continued right away.

"So we agree that Bryn will turn evil to make Scratch accept you as an ally. Once he's distracted, you're to send Sinbad's crew to an undefined universe where no one can find them. Just like your sister Rumina, you have the power to send people to the in-between world where no gods, no humans, no evils exist. Time seems to stand still there, and those who are there won't seem to age at all. They won't die, because there is no such thing as hunger, thirst, threat, disasters, etc. to exist there. People who are trapped just keep wandering around until the barrier between that universe and the real world is broken. That only happens from the inside. Unless they can break out from the inside, they'll be free."

"And that's how Maeve escaped from Rumina's trap?"

"Exactly! And no doubt she'll be able to do that again, only it'll take her longer than the first time."

"And what about Scratch? Where am I sending him to?"

"The Garden of Thanat. It's a place where Hades would never expect for Scratch to be. The power of Thanatos', along with his brothers' and sisters', is much stronger than Scratch's, so it'll temporarily seal Scratch's power for a while. He won't be able to break free. But Hades can get to that island anytime, and we don't know when. That's why you have to be there to make sure that no one comes to rescue Scratch. And if that creature thinks of breaking free, you need to be there to prevent it."

"I understand." Bryn replied to her guardian. She then walked up to him for a hug. "I'll do my best to keep our plan on track." Her voice was filled with both hope and sadness. Surely, she was prepared to leave, but at the same time, she didn't want to.

"I know child. I know." Hakim gently smoothened her hair as if to ease the agony inside her heart. "The Higher Ones have hopes in you Bryn. Both Rumina and I believe in you too. Stay strong and you can do it."

His encouraging words resulted in a small smile on Bryn's face. She looked up to her guardian with faith in her eyes. He said she could do it, and she believed him. The guardian quickly signaled Rumina to come closer, and the three of them exchanged their last hugs.

"Before you go," Rumina told her sister, "go check on Salyn. I know you want to." She said as tears began to fill her eyes again. The older witch received a slight nod from her sister. Both Hakim and Rumina watched Bryn making her way to the little girl's room. Taking in a heavy breath, they both prayed that Bryn could handle this painful separation.

"Knock! Knock!"

"Who's there?"

"It's mommy."

"Mommy! Salyn is already in bed." The little girl felt guilty lying to her mother. She wasn't in bed like she said. Salyn was in the middle of making the necklace for her mother. She wouldn't want her mother to find out now. It wouldn't be a surprise anymore, so she had no choice but to lie. *_I'll apologize to mommy once this necklace is done._*

"Why so early dear?" Bryn was surprised to know that her daughter was already in bed. Her daughter was always known as a late owl. She'd take every chance she could to sneak out for some fun at night. Of course, Hakim always sent another guardian to watch over Salyn whenever she went out on her own. Bryn knew that her child was being fully protected. Still, sneaking out late at night was a very bad thing for a little girl to do. That's why Bryn had to make sure that Salyn got to be on time every night. It was still early now, and it didn't sound like her daughter to be settled down for the night yet.

"Salyn is tired," replied the daughter.

"Can mommy come in for just a bit?"

"No mommy. Salyn is very sleepy now."

"Just for a second, and I'll leave you for the night."

"All right all right mommy." She rolled her eyes while carefully hid the sea-shells and the necklace under her pillow. "Just for a second." She then laid on top of it and didn't move at all, in case her mother found out.

"Hey sweetie, are you that tired?" Bryn asked, a bit worried, as she sat on the bed.

"Yes mommy," Salyn pretended to yawn. "Salyn want to sleep early tonight."

"That's good. Sleeping early will help my Salyn to stay healthy and pretty."

"Really mommy?"

"Really dear. If you want to grow up as a beautiful lady, then you must sleep early every night. Not just tonight, but every night."

"When Salyn grow up, Salyn will be pretty like mommy and aunty Mina?"

Bryn chuckled. "Uh huh." She replied as she was putting her daughter's blanket in place, making sure that the little girl would sleep through the whole night again. Her heart ached for a second at the thought of being away from her daughter for the longest time ever. She wouldn't be able to see her daughter growing up, to be there for her training, to cook her favorite soup, to plant flowers with her, to do everything with her. *_How can I do this_?* Bryn thought to herself and accidentally let out a stressful sigh.

"What's wrong mommy?" The little girl asked. None of her mother's sad reaction passed her eyes. She could sense her mother wasn't feeling good. "Did Salyn do anything wrong again?"

"Oh no dear! You did not. I'm just a little bit tired."

"Then mommy should go to sleep early like Salyn."

"I will dear. I will."

She paused for a second, trying to find the most acceptable words to tell her innocent child about their future. She didn't want to make Salyn feel any burden, so she had to be sorting words out carefully before speaking. After a short while, Bryn began. "There's something mommy want Salyn to know." From the look on her face, Bryn knew Salyn was paying her full attention to every words her mother was about to say. "Hmm… Mommy has to take care of something, so I won't be home with Salyn for a while. Aunty Mina and Hakim are still here, so Salyn must be a good girl until mommy comes back all right?"

"How long is a while mommy? You've never been away from Salyn before."

"I know sweetie, but I won't take long. Here's the deal. Mommy know Salyn really like playing hide-and-seek right?"

"Yesssssssssss," the little girl said with the happiest tone in her voice. "Salyn is good at hide-and-seek."

"You surely are. Now, mommy will go do some things away from home. It's like mommy is hiding from Salyn. Until Salyn gets to mommy, then mommy will go home with Salyn. If not, Salyn need to keep looking and looking and looking."

"That sounds fun. Can aunty Mina and Hakim play with us?"

"Not this time dear. Only Salyn can find mommy. But it won't be easy like we always play and take a bit long, because mommy will be far away from home. Will Salyn still find me and bring us home?"

"Don't worry mommy. Salyn won't fail. Salyn promise to find mommy." The little girl said, raising her pinky finger and signaled her mother. Bryn sweetly smiled at her daughter's gesture and made their promise again. In Salyn's mind of a child, she had no idea that her mother was leaving. Tonight was the last time she could see her mother again. It was Bryn's intention of not letting her daughter know about her departure. It'd be too much for a little girl to handle now. She'd rather make it simple as a game for Salyn to play, so that the girl's heart wouldn't be crushed.

"That's my girl. Now why don't you go to sleep since you're already tired? We can start our game tomorrow." Bryn said as she leaned down to kiss her daughter's forehead for one last time. She was doing her best to suppress her heart from being exploded at the most terrible decision for now. Her lips trembled at the touch against Salyn's soft skin, feeling regret having to miss her presence for the longest time. Slowly pulling herself back, Bryn gently caressed her daughter's wavy hair as she spoke. "Good night Salyn." Before she could get herself up, the little girl pulled her mother's face down for the sweetest kiss.

"Good night mommy. I love you."

"I love you too my dear."

And with those final words, Bryn heavily picked herself up and left Salyn's room. Her heart was broken into thousands of pieces as she left her daughter behind. Outside their home, Hakim and Rumina were waiting for Bryn, so the guardian could transfer her to the Nomad. Scratch was already attacking the crew, and Bryn knew she had to be there before it was too late. Hakim quickly summoned his magic and sent Bryn to the air. Before she completely disappeared, Bryn could sense her guardian's and her sister's thought. *Don't worry about Salyn. We'll take care of her. You take care of yourself too Bryn.* Bryn nodded her head in understanding. The mother quickly sent out her words to her sleeping child. *_Good bye Salyn._*

**P.S: FluffyLicorne'll be gone till next year. I'll miss you all. The reason for my absence is because I gotta study for my finals next week now. And lots of other things to take care for Christmas and New Year. Gonna be a busy bee from now. So, I sincerely apologize for my late replies to those who write to me. Send me your reviews/PM's/suggestions/complaints/etc. and I'll to my best to reply. Thank you so much for your support and following my story. See you again soon!**


	9. Destiny Revealed - The Bond before Time

**Author's Note: Warmest greetings to my dear readers! How are you all doing? I hope that everybody enjoyed their holidays. May this new year of 2014 be a great year for you and loved ones. I know I've been taking a long break and probably leaving you hanging. I'm very sorry for that. Now is the time for the most important chapter of my story. This chapter is intended to serve my readers' curiosity and to answer your main questions. And it's also the point where my imagination gets to its maximum. So I invite you to join me on the journey to where mysteries will be unfolded. Relax, sit back, fasten your seat-belt, and allow me to drive you to the central revelation of this story. I really hope you'll like how the story is being told. Questions, comments, or suggestions are highly welcomed. Now... Are you ready? Here we go!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Adventures of Sinbad. The story I write here comes from my own imagination.**

At the Tavern of Brisa,

The entire Nomad's crew was still at shock after witnessing what had just happened. One second ago, they were in the middle of an unexpected fight and got injured. The next second, they found themselves being rescued and cured by this one girl named Salyn who looked exactly like Bryn. There seemed to be no words to describe their state at the moment. Sinbad, especially, was still speechless at his recent discovery. That young woman Salyn was definitely not Bryn.

"You're okay?" His brother asked, as if he just sensed the confusion in the captain's eyes.

"I think so," shortly replied Sinbad. He didn't yet want to touch the matter of this event.

"What should we do now?"

"Let's set sail. We've been delayed so many times now."

"And I do hope that we won't be interrupted this time." Maeve spoke in irritation.

With that being said, the crew quickly made their way out of the tavern, but their intention to leave was once again stopped. The owner of the tavern, Borna, just appeared right at the entrance to stop the sailors. He got their attention with his urgency.

"We need your help, captain." Borna's voice was filled with worry that none of the crew could ignore.

"What's the matter Borna?" Sinbad asked surprisingly.

"Our village is in danger, and no one could save us except you." The owner pleaded. "Please follow me. There's someone you must see. He will explain everything. There's no more time to waste."

Borna, after finishing his sentence, quickly turned to lead the way. It seemed like he didn't even wait for the sailors' agreement to help. The Nomad's crew was pretty surprised at Borna's reactions. Sinbad could sense that Borna was serious about help needed here, for danger seemed to be around the corner of every street. As a matter of fact, the crew just got attacked by random people for no reason. It made sense when someone here asked for help. He then turned to his crew and indicated that they should find out the reason for Borna's request. Surely, they couldn't ignore those who were in need. The rest of the crew seemed to agree with the captain's thought, so they quickly followed Borna.

"Where are you taking us?" Maeve asked Borna as they were heading to the jungle.

"To the temple," Borna kindly replied. "Our priest has been expecting you. We're almost there."

Everyone was still following Borna with so many questions on their mind, except for Sinbad. He was the only person who was thinking about a different topic at the moment. This place here didn't give him any sense of peace at all. If his memory was correct, he was sure this place was where Bryn left the Nomad seventeen years ago. After that long time, they encountered another version of her right here on this island. *_What's the meaning of this?_* He quietly told himself. Another thing that got the captain's attention was this jungle. Something about it gave him a familiar sense, as if he's been here before, but he couldn't remember when or how. He knew it wouldn't help to voice his thought to the crew, so he had to keep his thought to himself. Sinbad then decided to forget about these feelings for a moment and focus on another more practical matter – Borna's helping request.

The owner took everyone to this temple on top of a mountain located right in the middle of the jungle. The temple looked like it was built thousands years ago, for the architectures looked very old and many spots on the walls have been rusty. However, this temple could still remain its ancient and formal look. It made the crew members wonder what was waiting for them inside. Following Borna, they got inside the temple which was a lot warmer than outside. Candles were lit everywhere to make it easier to look around. Numerous drawings could be seen being engraved on the walls. None of the crew understood the meaning of these drawings. The captain was in his deep thought upon seeing this scene. He felt like he had seen these drawings before, or actually been a part of them. He couldn't explain why he got this feeling until a hooded figure from the central altar got his attention. Borna led the crew to the altar and bowed.

"This is our high priest. He's been waiting for your arrival."

The priest slowly removed his hood to reveal his kind old male features. Even though he was old, his sharp movements proved otherwise. He nicely smiled at the crew and introduced himself.

"My name is Aref." He carefully looked at each of these foreigners and stopped his hazelnut eyes on the captain. "You must be Sinbad and this is your crew."

Sinbad was surprised to find the stranger knowing his name even before he said it.

"And you must be Doubar, Rongar, Maeve, Velda, and Firouz." The priest then looked at each member to call out their names, adding the equally surprising amount to each of their mind.

"How did you know about us?" Sinbad unbelievably asked.

"Don't be too surprised sailors, for all your questions will be answered in a moment. Be patient." He told the crew before guiding them to approach the altar. On each side the altar, there was a pillar where a rainbow bracelet was carefully placed on each.

"I suppose you find these two items familiar." Aref directed his words to the Nomad's captain.

"I do," Sinbad replied. "But I don't remember how or from where I got mine." He slowly raised his left hand on his chest and slightly touched his bracelet.

"That bracelet is meant for the chosen people who were selected to protect this world from the dark."

The crew turned their attention to a new voice that just joined the conversation. They found another old man who dressed in white gown and looked similarly kind as Aref.

The priest then introduced the crew to this person. "I'd like you all to meet Hakim. He's one of the guardians who know about the bracelets as much as you all know about the sea."

Hakim quickly made himself known to the crew and again stopped his look upon Sinbad. It made the captain a bit uncomfortable, since he got the feeling like he was the target of all these confusing events. All he wanted now was to get to the bottom of all these meetings and all.

"Don't be in a rush Sinbad," Hakim told Sinbad, as if he could read what was on the captain's mind. "You will have a hard time coming to accept what we are about to tell you. So be patient."

The guardian's words touched Sinbad for a moment. He then quickly made clear of those questions that were floating on his mind.

"As you all know, Sinbad and Tetsu both came to possess this bracelet without knowing how or where it came from. And you all must not forget another person that shares their taste of jewelry as well."

"Bryn." Everyone spoke in unison, but somewhat irritated at speaking of this name.

"Exactly!" Hakim continued. "You all probably are wondering why Sinbad was chosen to be granted this bracelet." Hakim looked at each member to see them nodding their heads. "One thing you need to know about your captain. He is well-known of his bravery and courage of helping those who are in need. That's why he agreed to help Borna once he found that Borna's village is in danger. We the guardians are in charge of finding those who are eligible for the mission of protecting this world from the dark. However, our mission doesn't seem to be easy, for this world of yours is full of devil things, and not everyone is willing to step up to protect it. The guardians were all happy to finally find Sinbad whose heart is pure, strong, and determined for this mission. So we'd rescued him from the storm that struck his family many years ago. We'd brought him aboard our ship to help him recover from his wounds, and trained him to be a warrior for our mission. Of course, we didn't want any of you to find out about the guardians' existence, so we had to erase his memory of two years being with us."

"And that explains why I have no clue of how I came to have the bracelet?"

"That's the reason. And Tetsu had his in a similar situation." Hakim explanation caused the crew to nod their heads. The guardian continued, "Bryn, on the other hand, was a different story. The reason why she was chosen is because she is the combination of the light and the dark, the good and the evil. It's a special pedigree of hers. Luckily, her good side is evidently dominant which convinced the guardians of her good will to defend the weak. However, she can't deny the fact that she is the daughter of Turok's – the wicked sorcerer you all have ever known of."

Hakim's statement caused the whole crew to let out a horrible gasp.

"Quite unbelievable, isn't it?" Hakim asked them all.

"Not really." Firouz spoke. "She was once our valuable crew member, but she changed, and we couldn't recognize her anymore. She'd turned evil and betrayed us."

"That's impossible." It was now Aref's turn to speak. "Bryn would never harm any good person. She can't."

"What do you mean she can't?" Doubar asked angrily. "She joined Scratch ten years ago to destroy us all. That doesn't yet include her attack on me even before that. This is the proof."

Doubar then revealed his scar caused by Bryn a while ago when she came to attack him on the Nomad. It was a pretty bad burn resulted from a powerful source of fire which could definitely get someone killed. Aref was taken back to see such damage to be caused by Bryn.

"She can't harm any good person," the priest repeated, "because she's been under a curse for thousands years."

"A curse?" Everyone all spoke at once.

The priest looked at them all and stopped at Sinbad before continuing. "Bryn is placed under a curse by the Lord of the Dark Hades. There's a definite mark on her body to signify that specific curse – The tattoo of the outcast. She's been living thousands of years through countless lives with that tattoo on."

"I've seen her tattoo before," the captain of the Nomad replied to Aref's questioning look. "On her left shoulder-blade, the tattoo is a combination of the sun and the moon, but the part of the sun is bigger."

"Correct," Aref continued. "And the moon is in its crescent form covered in bloody-red shade. The whole image represents an annular solar eclipse."

Sinbad nodded his head as the image of Bryn's tattoo was coming to his mind. He was wondering why this priest came to know about it, for Sinbad was the only person Bryn'd revealed her deepest secret to.

"Her tattoo is a sign of traitor and a forbidden love." Aref continued. "Bryn, for all her lives, has always been the combination of the good and the bad. Her original father, Sam, had been one of the best servants for Hades. She was born as the result of his father falling in love with a goddess from whom Bryn had inherited her good side. She was once in the army of Hades in the quest of conquering the world, until she fell in love with the son of Poseidon's – the mighty God of the Sea. This very young man was known of his pure heart for the protection of the sea. He was once on his father's side to defeat Hades' devil plan. In one of those battles between Hades and Poseidon, Bryn and the prince of the sea met and fell deeply in love with each other. They were both willing to give up their pedigrees and leave everything behind just to run away together. They meant to forget their opposite origins for the sake of spending the rest of their lives as man and wife. Their wish could never come true, for both Poseidon and Hades had found out about their runaway plan. Bryn and her lover were convicted of betraying their gods, and each was cursed to live through countless lives being separated. Poseidon inked Bryn's body with the tattoo as the combination of the good and the bad. If she ever intended to harm a good person, just like her pedigree of her dark nature, the bloody-crescent moon part of her tattoo would expand its size until the whole moon completely covered the sun. It indicated her darkness final victory over the good, and she'd be forever separated from her lover. Another worse result would be on her lover's life – the final judgment in front of Zeus. If Bryn ever dared to harm good people, her lover eventually would suffer as the worst outcome. Poseidon meant to put up the hardest challenge beforeher, for he knew she wouldn't risk even the slightest chance to endanger the prince. That explained why she can never harm any good person, for they all represent the good side in her lover's heart."

Everyone was found in their shocking states upon hearing about Bryn's origin. They still couldn't believe at this revelation. Two incidents from the past had caused them to mistrust their former witch. How could a story from the ancient time convince them to change their minds? After all, the priest and the guardian were strangers to them which didn't seem to be reasonable to trust their words. What if this was another trick Bryn played with them to win over their trust? Upon seeing her joining Scratch's ally ten years ago, they'd realized that Bryn had completely turned against them. There could be no explanation to defend her actions at all.

Maeve was the first to speak on behalf of the crew. "How can we trust your words? You both probably don't know how much suffering Bryn had caused us in the past ten years. Your explanation can't just make us believe you and forget about what we had witnessed with our own eyes."

"What suffering, may I ask, had Bryn caused you all?" Aref responded to the Celtic sorceress.

"Doubar just told you," Maeve continued. "She came to attack him a while ago."

"And what is the purpose of that?" It was Hakim's turn to speak now.

"We all don't know." Doubar replied

"Then there must be some sort of misunderstanding." Hakim spoke again, turning to face Sinbad who was lost in his thought and reasoning now. "Let's be honest here, captain. Do you really believe that Bryn had wounded Doubar or she would have ever lied to you?"

Sinbad looked at the guardian with his confusing eyes. He let out a heavy sigh before answering. "There was proof from the scene to be against her self-defense." Pausing a little bit, Sinbad continued. "She'd broken my trust in her before this incident with my brother."

"Did she ever defend herself in front of you?" Hakim asked.

Sinbad was now pacing back and forth with his arms crossed across his chest. "She told me she wasn't a traitor. And I believed her." The captain was taken back by his own words. He did believe that Bryn wasn't a traitor, but it never made him wonder for so long why her actions were otherwise. He seemed to be drifting to his deep thought after making that statement.

"That's what I'd like to hear, captain." Hakim let out a satisfying smile on his kindest face.

"Wait a second," Firouz jumped in the conversation before Sinbad could have a chance to speak. "We all went here because we heard Borna's village needs help. So why are you telling us things about Bryn? After all, she bears no connection with us." The scientist impatiently questioned the priest and the guardian. He somewhat couldn't believe in the priest's words, nor would he let go of his prejudices against Bryn. He once had valued her as one of his dearest family members, but her betraying actions had turned him completely against her. He felt bitter devoting his work for her which in return received nothing but destruction. Coming here to the temple, he'd expected to be shown the way of how to help Borna and his people, not to discover anything about Bryn.

The priest looked at Firouz's impatient state and agreed that they should get to the bottom of this meeting. He clearly made his point know now. "The villagers here are all predestined to be the peace-markers and the warriors to fight for the world's safety. However, they won't be ready for this important mission without their leaders' guidance. Hades knows the villagers are potential barriers to his plan, so he has directed one of his allies to come and destroy the village before their leaders could come back and fight along their side for the final battle against Hades. We hope that you can help us protect the village by going on the quest to find one of those leaders."

"Who is this person? And where he or she can be located?" Firouz excitingly asked. From the tone of his voice, Velda could tell that her husband was getting excited for going on another adventure. She in turn got into the adventurous spirit as well.

"The answers for your questions all depend on your captain here." Both Hakim and Aref spoke together, emphasizing Sinbad's importance for the mission here.

"Me?" The captain asked surprisingly. "I don't understand."

"You, captain," Hakim started, "are one of those needed leaders. You share a great bond before all time with the other chosen one." The guardian said while looking carefully at Sinbad's rainbow bracelet.

"We all trust that you can help locate her." Aref finished Hakim's sentence.

"You want us to find Bryn?" Velda couldn't wait to voice her question.

"Impossible," Doubar objected. "That woman had caused us so much pain in the past. We never want to see her again. I'm sorry to say it but you two found the wrong people for this mission."

"And why, may I ask again, are you all hating Bryn?" Aref said.

"We told you," Maeve replied. "She joined Scratch ten years ago to take revenge on us. Sinbad had made her leave for how she'd wounded Doubar, and she'd grown bitter at us that she'd wanted her revenge."

Every one of the Nomad's crew nodded their heads in agreeing with Maeve. Hakim then looked at all of them for some more questions.

"Let's all be honest to yourselves here. Supposed Bryn had grown so bitter that she'd wanted her revenge to be done on you, how horribly do you think she would have done so?"

"She'd s trapped us in an undefined universe," Maeve voiced the crew suffering. "And it was our worst nightmare of all time. Could you imagine ten years being imprisoned without knowing where you were or how to break free? I don't think so." Maeve's voice was starting to tremble as she recalled the time being in that universe. Two times in her life, she'd been imprisoned that she'd almost given up hope. Any other similar situation would be last on her mind to think of as long as she lived. Rongar had to place his arm on her back to assure the sorceress. He could understand his friend's agony.

Hakim waited until Maeve calmed down and continued, "So… Ten years you said… Besides being imprisoned, did anything bad happen?"

The crew shook their heads.

"Any attack from monster or the devils?"

Another turn of shaking heads.

"Any chance for your swordsmanship and magic training?"

Hakim was pleased to see the crew nodding their heads.

"So… Are you saying that not only were you all safe, but you also got to improve your skills?

They crew nodded their head again. Indeed, that long time had given them a great chance for their training. With Maeve's first experience of being trapped by Rumina's power, the Celtic sorceress believed that normal human could never get out of such undefined universe. But it'd be a different case if the prisoner possessed some sort of magic. And Maeve did. So she did her best to break free. Knowing that this second trap by Bryn was much more powerful than Rumina's, each day Maeve spent there to sharpen her magical power and improve herself, so that one day she could release herself and the crew. Never was there a second that Maeve gave up hope and determination. Such positive attitudes got on the crew. They all could tell how much effort their shipmate was putting into advancing her strength. That's why they couldn't let themselves fall behind. As their female companion took every possible chance to practice her magic, the guys in turn sharpened their swordsmanship. Their mind was all set on one ultimate goal – To train themselves and become better, so they could be ready to face the outside world once they were released.

"Aha…" The guardian spoke in joy. "That's the look I've been expecting on your faces. Now let's get it through." He turned his gaze upon Sinbad again. "Do you really believe Bryn that she never meant anything harmful to you or your crew?"

Quiet…

"Do you think what Bryn had done also had its purpose?"

Quiet again… But this time, the captain's face was lit with a more hopeful look.

"Indeed, she had her purpose to betray you all, well, if it's the only appropriate word that your mind can think of now. Let me make some clarifications here. As we've just told you, there is an endless battle between Hades and Poseidon. The Lord of the Dark fears that he's not powerful enough to defeat the Olympic yet, so he decides to take down one of his brothers – Poseidon – before launching the final battle against Zeus. Of course Poseidon never lets it happen. So for countless years, the two brothers have been fighting in one way or another. However, Hades recently sort of switches his target by getting accessed to the world we live in. He knows that turning human against all gods is another great possibility for his plan, so he has recruited the most devilish creature to be on his side – Scratch."

Everybody all gasped in horrible state upon hearing the name of Scratch.

"His first target," Hakim continued, "which pleased Hades so much, was you – the master of seven seas." He guided the crew's look on Sinbad.

"Why?" Everybody else asked in unison.

"For you hold the key to Poseidon's weakness." Aref answered for Hakim. "You are the heart of the ocean – the most favorite and also the outcast soul. You were exiled from your own kingdom by betraying your father, your nature, and your people."

"I… I don't understand."

"You are the son of Poseidon's who felt hopelessly in love with your enemy – the girl from the dark – Bryn. As I said before, she and the prince of the sea fell in love in one of the battles between Hades and Poseidon. In fact, that battle took place here thousands years ago. Tell me captain, did you get any sense of familiarity when you were on the way to this temple? And the engraving drawings on the walls as well, did they raise any question on your mind?"

Sinbad was pretty shocked at how Aref could detect the captain's confusing feelings as if he was an open book. Quietly nodding his head, Sinbad signaled the priest to continue.

"That's not too hard for you to come to understand captain, since all the details of the mentioned battle were recorded here on the walls. And because both you and Bryn were a part of that battle, it'll make sense to find those details familiar. Your mind may not be able to recall all those details yet, since you're not even aware of your origins. That's why the engraving drawings are here to give you a better reminder. In case neither of you can recall your past, the drawings will help."

"Recording those details here is also an intention made by the Higher Ones, since they prove a strong love and connection between you and Bryn before time." Hakim continued Aref's explanation by talking directly to the captain of the Nomad. "They all witnessed how you and Bryn fell in love at the first sight and figured out your runaway plan. They also knew that one day you two will reunite and fight against Hades' dark plan. This will happen here in this time period, that's why they decided to choose both of you for the mission of bringing peace to this world. By granting you the rainbow bracelets, the Higher Ones meant to recreate that long-lost connection between you two. Once your fates are revealed, you will be ready to lead the brave people of this village to the dark power once and for all. In the end, the Higher Ones believe that your reunion with Bryn will prove to your father Poseidon that your love is right, and that your curse will finally come to an end. After all, Poseidon can't completely give up on one of his beloved sons. Even though the almighty king of the sea had already made his vow of not ever helping you again, we all know that a father's love will never neglect the son."

"This is impossible," Doubar screamed in frustration. The older brother couldn't believe at any words from both Aref and Hakim about Sinbad as Poseidon's son. "He's my one and only brother. There's no relation between him and the gods."

"Only in this life is he your brother, Doubar." Aref sadly replied. "Just like Bryn, Sinbad was convicted as a traitor. He too has been living through numerous lives, which he's not even aware of, as a punishment for his sin. How do you explain the tattoos on your ankles?" Aref specifically was asking Sinbad, indicating the chained tattoos found on both of his ankles.

Both Doubar and Sinbad looked at each other in disbelief. The mystery of the captain's life was about to be revealed now.

"A sign of traitor for a forbidden love as well." The priest continued. "Both Sinbad and Bryn possessed the mysterious tattoos that none of them can explain their origins or anything. It is because their bodies were inked under the power of gods as the tricks each brother plays on the other. For Bryn, as long as Bryn was refrained from turning evil, Hades' plan on winning her soul back would be delayed. It'd also delay his plan to conquer the world, for Bryn played one of the most important tasks in defeating the gods, especially Athena, in the Olympic. As for Sinbad, he was cursed by Hades that Sinbad couldn't kill Scratch despite his nature of defeating the bad. If he ever planned to end this creature's life, of course, the final judgment would fall on Bryn – the only love of his life. The tattoos on Sinbad's ankles would be complete by the time he put his swords through Scratch's heart. It also meant he'd be forever refrained from uniting with Bryn, for the chains held the power to keep him away from Bryn forever, just like how her complete eclipse would forever keep her away from Sinbad. Ten years ago, Hades decided to launch his final batter against Poseidon. Scratch, as one of Hades' effective tools, meant to win over Sinbad's soul as their first target. You all must not forget that a woman named Methana once revealed Hades' interest in Sinbad. It is because Sinbad is the son of Poseidon's. Once Hades has his touch on Sinbad's soul, nothing else can keep him away from winning over Poseidon, for he wouldn't be willing to sacrifice his own son's life."

"And that's why Bryn showed up ten years ago to ruin the devil's plan," Hakim now jumped in to give the final defense for his child, "for she couldn't stand seeing you going against your father. Pretending that she'd betrayed your crew was her only reason to make Scratch believe her and let her join his ally. She'd shown her deepest hatred against you all just to convince Scratch to let her carry out the final punishment on you all. Instead of killing everybody, she'd sent you to an undefined universe to keep you away from Scratch and Hades, where you could all be safe from the devil's hands. Once Scratch can't reach you Sinbad, Hades' plan can't be fulfilled. You then won't get hurt, nor will you be turned against your father. She'd rather die alone than seeing you, or any of your members, to suffer from the dark."

After finishing his last sentence, Hakim turned away to hide his tears for Bryn. Finally, the truth came out, and Bryn's false accusations were overturned. The guardian knew that was all he could do for his child. Aref quickly came to the guardian's side to give a firm squeeze on his old friend's shoulder. The two of them have been waiting for this moment to come – the moment for all mystery and fatal revelations to be revealed. They'd just unfolded the missing parts of Sinbad's life in front of him. The final decision was now depending on the captain's hand.

Upon knowing the truth about his life, Sinbad found it overwhelming for him to take all in at once. What the priest and the guardian just told him once again confirmed the theory that he and Bryn couldn't be separated, for their fates have been linked thousands years ago. The endless love they had for each other had led them to the decision of giving up everything they'd once had just to run away together. And the courage they shared was the basic characteristic for them to be chosen by the Higher Ones, to possess the rainbow bracelets, and to be linked together physically and spiritually. The captain now felt hopeless at his hatred and doubt on Bryn, for all she'd done was just because of her unconditional love for him. How could he not believe her? The image of her eyes immediately came flooding on the captain's mind. On the day he'd made her leave the Nomad, she was desperately sending him the pleading look to make him believe her, believe that she wasn't the traitor, but he'd rejected her wish. After all they'd been through, Sinbad couldn't hold onto his heart to trust Bryn at that last moment she was with him. His lack of trust in Bryn had caused her so much suffering which she had to overcome all by herself. What kind of love was his to make his lover go through all this? He felt so weak that the captain had to lean on his brother for strength. A regretful tear rolled down from his eye for his sorrow and guilt. No matter what happened between them, he should have held on tight to their love which could never turn them against each other. How could he make up for his horrible mistakes now? How could he bring her back? What should he do? He finally reached for Aref and Hakim to seek the answer.

"It'll be quite a dangerous task to find Bryn." Aref started, as if he could read Sinbad's thoughts just by the look on the captain's sad face.

"Please tell us… Anything we can, we'll do our best." Firouz was the first to speak after knowing the truth. His voice was also filled with guilt which was surely giving him a hard time coming to accept his condemn upon Bryn. He shouldn't have held strong prejudices against her. Rongar was right. The Moor just helped the scientist to recall their encounter with Mutaro years and years ago on an isolated island. Mutaro, a beast of the dark, had grown a great interest in Bryn that he wouldn't let her go. And she was willing to stay behind, so that everybody could get back on the Nomad safely. She was determined to sacrifice herself for the crew once; there'd be no doubt for her to do so again. They'd made horrible mistakes for not trusting her, and now they must correct them.

Firouz's pleading attitude pleased both Aref and Hakim. The wise men turned at everyone and finally looked at their captain upon making their last statement.

"As sad as it is, Bryn disappeared with Scratch in the battle ten years ago." Aref sadly informed the crew. A moment of disappointment and sorrow filled their eyes.

"But we know someone who can be a great help for you all." Hakim quickly added to Aref's words. "You need to find this girl called Salyn, for she is one of the most powerful witches in this world. She also has been trained to become a skillful warrior, and she has the ability to locate where Bryn is."

"Is she the young lady who looks exactly like Bryn?" Velda asked which caused both wise men to raise their brows in questioning. "We've come across her today at the tavern." The female physician quickly added. "There was an unexpected fight where unknown people dressing in black costumes came to attack us this morning. Unfortunately, both Sinbad and Maeve were wounded. Salyn healed both of them. In fact, she'd healed my injury from last week as well."

Both Hakim and Aref were surprised at Velda's announcement. Aref was first to voice his question. "Did she ever make herself known to you?"

"Not at all," Firouz continued his wife's words. "She never spoke a word to us."

"Then how did you know her name?" Hakim asked.

"I overheard the conversation between her and her friend Wiley. He found me lying wounded on the beach and took me in for care."

*_This is going a bit out of control.* _Hakim quietly sent his inner thought to Aref_. *Salyn isn't supposed to reveal herself yet, or else our plan can go off track_.*

*_Rumina needs to keep a closer eye on this mischievous niece of hers*. _Aref replied to his old friend._ *They seem to be clueless of her true identity. Let's pray things aren't off track yet_.*

"Indeed," Aref had to answer Velda's question. "Salyn possesses the undoubtedly exact look of Bryn. She can be found at a house near the beach. Once you reach her, your quest of finding Bryn eventually begins. You all must be careful all the time. The previous fight with those people can be the first attack from Hades. He probably sensed that you are near, so he intended to get rid of you. He'll surely try again after this failed attempt. You must not let his wish come true. Both Sinbad and Bryn are needed for the final battle."

The crew nodded their heads after receiving Hakim's warning.

"Good luck to you all," the guardian spoke again. "This is all we can tell you. May you leave and come back in peace. We'll both be watching over every step you go now."

"Thank you," Sinbad replied at their kind words. "We'll find Bryn and come back for the villagers."

"We do hope to see you all again soon." Aref finished off.

They exchanged their good-byes and quickly follow Borna to leave the temple. Everyone was still at shock to know about the truth, but they each knew they had to come to terms with it soon. The most important task now was to locate Salyn and asked her to join the crew. With her unfriendly attitudes towards them, they crew was worried that she would reject their request of helping them find Bryn. Still, they had to convince her anyway. No one else except this girl was able to find Bryn, if Hakim and Aref's words were true. And with that thought, they crew headed towards the beach where Salyn could be found to begin their search for Bryn.


End file.
